Butler Post Game Thread

[SaeHusky]

I'm rooting for Mahaney. He had a nice game today and we do need a 3rd reliable scorer after Alex and Liam, but I think he has a long way to go on D before he plays more than Ball.

Mahaney and Ball are no different on defense - both are a liability at this point. However on offense Mahaney can be a 3 level scorer compared to Ball who is pretty much a shooter albeit a better 3 point shooter than Mahaney. Throw Ross into the 2 guard mix as well if you want the best defender of the 3

 

[DogMania]

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

Part of the foul disparity is bad D. Silly reach-in, careless contact when the offensive rebound is just not there, defensive breakdowns resulting in players off the ball scrambling to pick up the driver, going for the block a little too much and not getting in good defense rebounding, etc. It all adds up.

With that said, it does seem the refs are calling a lot of incidental contact on UConn while letting the other team get away with a lot of contact on our players. There was a lot of grabbing and clutching off the ball.

Just don't understand why the officiating has been a bit one-sided. It might be due to our frequent defensive mistakes just opens the team up to getting some bad calls on top of legit ones.

 

[ucp990411]

He missed an assignment that lead to an open 3 in the first half but other than that there was nothing he did worse than those two. I don’t get it; he’s a special talent offensively when he has confidence, and Ross is a foul machine

Hurley really ripped him after that missed assignment

 

[AllHusky]

Several people around here have made the point that his highest and best present usage is as a 'microwave' scorer. Until he gets a grip on the physicality of the Big East that's probably a good role for him. He can learn what he has to learn while still feeling like he's contributing and it gives Hurley another weapon instead of a roster void.

Also, is there a better name for a basketball player than Andre Screen?

He should be able to reach Joey California levels, if not better. California's defense came along, probably turned the corner to being acceptable late January, maybe early Feb.

 

[BlueHen]

Sorry I missed the game. Always good to win a road game against a conference opponent.

 

[bendm]

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

So we’re going to just ride with Diarra as our only PG? The hope was Nowell would eventually become backup PG/9th man. I guess we’re still hoping Mahaney figures it out ?

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Nowell is a freshman getting his feet wet. Johnson is a two time national championship player. What exactly are you curious about?

Nowell was supposedly cleared to play for Gonzaga and we played two games since. Johnson was placed in concussion protocol (standard is 7-10 days minimum before being cleared) and was starting after (at most) six days of no activity.

Basically I found it surprising that Nowell saw zero time since being cleared and that Johnson was cleared as quickly as he was.

 

[Huskyforlife]

So we’re going to just ride with Diarra as our only PG? The hope was Nowell would eventually become backup PG as the 8th/9th man. I guess we’re still hoping Mahaney figures it out ?

It appears we think he's the best option. Not sure I agree, but at least he contributed today.

 

[blkknight1]

May explain some of it.

This ran through my office and family last week. Thankfully the team has a long break because if he has it you can bet he gonna pass it to a couple of other guys. I was floored (literally)for a day last week I played down on the floor and didn’t move unless nature called.

 

[superjohn]

I don't think Dan Hurley has a choice but to find minutes for Nowell. God forbid we lose Hass to an injury for any stretch. Right now there isn't another option but Nowell for a legit PG. And unless we're going to find another Newton in the xfer pool for next year, you have to get the guy some real experience.

It has to happen. The nightmare scenario you speak of in the second sentence is why it really needs to happen.

 

[AllHusky]

It appears we think he's the best option. Not sure I agree, but at least he contributed today.

Dying to see it with my own eyes one way or the other, not just "In Hurley We Trust"

No second guessing, just a fan that is interested.

 

[Chin Diesel]

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.

That's what championship teams do
On the road, make the front end of 1 and 1's.

 

[Scottobot]

Mahaney and Ball are no different on defense - both are a liability at this point. However on offense Mahaney can be a 3 level scorer compared to Ball who is pretty much a shooter albeit a better 3 point shooter than Mahaney. Throw Ross into the 2 guard mix as well if you want the best defender of the 3

They need to keep a bunch of players in the mix, so that Hurley has a pivot if Ball is ice cold like he was today. If Mahaney can occasionally score 10+ off bench that would be huge.

 

[jibsey]

Don’t be mislead by the close score. It’s beyond difficult to win on the road. We went cold on many close shots falling in the second half but gutted out a character building win. Trust me, Hurley is not unhappy.

 

[AllHusky]

Seasons FG/FT/3PT % are 49.8 78.7 35.3 respectively. How does that measure up to what we need to be a great shooting team?

 

[Edward Sargent]

Couldnt watch the game. Put it in My Stuff in Peacock and all I get are the highlights. Ughh

 

[aburks41]

We can't keep playing McNeeley, Karaban, and Hass 35+ minutes a game. They're going to get burned out or injured if they play that much every night in conference play. We're going to need more from Ross, Stewart, Mahaney, and Nowell to give those guys some rest.

We were able to wear everyone down last year because our bench kept our starters fresh for a full 40 minutes when the opponents were getting gassed.

 

[Edward Sargent]

This ran through my office and family last week. Thankfully the team has a long break because if he has it you can bet he gonna pass it to a couple of other guys. I was floored (literally)for a day last week I played down on the floor and didn’t move unless nature called.

Lots of norovirus around right now. We were at a wedding in LA and a good percentage of the grooms family came down with it.

 

[aburks41]

Seasons FG/FT/3PT % are 49.8 78.7 35.3 respectively. How does that measure up to what we need to be a great shooting team?

2024: 49.7 / 74.3 / 35.8
2023: 46.4 / 76.1 / 36.3

We're more or less tracking about the same as the last 2 teams. Defense is the difference though

 

[Deepster]

Time has a way of unfortunately making people forget how good certain players are. Think about kids today and how they don’t really know how good Shabazz or Caron Butler really were back when they played. A game like today is a perfect example of why Alex is so good at doing the things he does that make a team special. I hope he really gets remembered among the Husky elite long after his playing days are over.

 

[Chuck]

Couldnt watch the game. Put it in My Stuff in Peacock and all I get are the highlights. Ughh

I just logged in to Peacock and the full game is in there.

 

[AllHusky]

2024: 49.7 / 74.3 / 35.8
2023: 46.4 / 76.1 / 36.3

We're more or less tracking about the same as the last 2 teams. Defense is the difference though

Ain't that the truth. Still have alot of time to improve the D.

Thanks, good perspective on the %'s

 

[Waquoit]

I just logged in to Peacock and the full game is in there.

Yup, but in Peacock you can't FF past the commercials! Go to Sports and scroll down to where all the logos are and click on Big East.

 

[RuffRuff]

We can't keep playing McNeeley, Karaban, and Hass 35+ minutes a game. They're going to get burned out or injured if they play that much every night in conference play. We're going to need more from Ross, Stewart, Mahaney, and Nowell to give those guys some rest.

We were able to wear everyone down last year because our bench kept our starters fresh for a full 40 minutes when the opponents were getting gassed.

They’re 20 year old well conditioned kids playing 2 games a week. And we’ll have a handful of games against bottom tier teams to get the bench more run. They’ll be fine either way.

 

[Marat]

I just logged in to Peacock and the full game is in there.

Yeah just finished watching under the Big East folder . The replays are there.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Wasn't me. Someone in section 212 - 216 I think. I was in 209, diagonal behind our bench.

Bunch of Husky fans made it to today's game. Many comments from Butler fans said that we definitely traveled well for today.

Nothing better than Indianapolis at Christmastime

 

[Edward Sargent]

Ball, Hass, Mahaney. Maybe even McNeeley.

Would like to see Hass's and McNeeley's minutes a little lower. 6-8mpg.

I suspect where the rotation will get smaller is Ross/Stewart. Possibly Mahaney.

Like to see Mahaney/Nowell because we are going to see them more next year

 

[slepers]

I’d like to see Stewart playing 20 minutes a game. This was the perfect game for him today - we could have used him.

He had opportunities and didn’t play well, he will get lots of chances

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Nowell was supposedly cleared to play for Gonzaga and we played two games since. Johnson was placed in concussion protocol (standard is 7-10 days minimum before being cleared) and was starting after (at most) six days of no activity.

Basically I found it surprising that Nowell saw zero time since being cleared and that Johnson was cleared as quickly as he was.

This wasn’t a good game for Nowell at all. All of Butler’s main guards have at least 5-7” height on him and he’s game-rusty. There’s a reason why Ross got a decent amount of minutes guarding their big perimeter guys.

I bet he gets minutes in the DePaul game.

The good trade off is Mahaney got 10 productive minutes and looked about as good as he’s been all year. Including the Baylor game.

 

[RuffRuff]

This wasn’t a good game for Nowell at all. All of Butler’s main guards have at least 5-7” height on him and he’s game-rusty. There’s a reason why Ross got a decent amount of minutes guarding their big perimeter guys.

I bet he gets minutes in the DePaul game.

The good trade off is Mahaney got 10 productive minutes and looked about as good as he’s been all year. Including the Baylor game.

We know is Dan Hurley is going to give AM every chance that makes sense for the kid to figure it out. Part of his culture setting is not giving up on a guy he’s committed to when he’s down, and you just know he is going to pull for the kid and press conference all the doubters after his first big game to eat . Hurley will always pull for the underdog. It’s why kids run through walls for him.