Butler Post Game Thread | Page 7 | The Boneyard

Butler Post Game Thread

Palatine said:
Hurley's thinking in this regard is not in line with the Boneyard brain trust.
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The Boneyard brain trust is too focused on winning today and not enough on nursing along guys that could be critical in March (the exception always being guys who never play as they are pristine).
 
spudzj6 said:
Im aware I usually have ref bias and think it's not as bad as it is. Aka Very aware on my bias, but watching us get held on every cut and screen then watching Tarris foul out on a similar bump play we fight thru hurts.

My biggest ref pet peeve is out of position calls. 74-70, Ross pulls down a board on a missed three, Brooks flopped so hard and a ref at mid court on the opposite side of the play blew a late whistle, because he saw brooks fall. Completely missed the flop. Why can't the ref in position over rule that call? It gave them 2 FT and closed the game to one possession under a minute. It's those calls that help you lose a game.
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Or how about refs with no angle on a play swallow their whistle. Trust your fellow refs who are in position to make a call if warranted.
 
Alright I didn’t see this one so a box score has me ready to assume but also ask a couple questions.

I checked in on ESPN play by play and when the Huskies were up early 25-11 I saw SJ with 6/3 on 3-3 shooting but also did have 2 personal fouls so didn’t expect a lot more minutes first half. I think Tarris already had 4 and 2 as well on 2-3 shooting. So how does SJ stay there with his stats for the whole game and the only difference for Reed is he missed the only shot he took in the 2nd half?

Also another thing that stood out in the box score is Ball. 0-6 from 3 and 2-8 overall. Not sure why he would get 26 minutes when this happens because he doesn’t guard anyone and he only had 1 rebound . I realize Mahaney isn’t great on D either but he seemed like he was making shots maybe those minutes could have been more balanced? Also Stewie only played 6 at least he can rebound and get putbacks why not a few more minutes for him?

Butler is smallish really wondering why we weren’t hammering it down their throats with Reed and SJ but again, I didn’t see it. Curious for feedback!
 
mauconnfan said:
Butler is smallish really wondering why we weren’t hammering it down their throats with Reed and Samson Johnson but again, I didn’t see it. Curious for feedback!
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Reed was taking it at that 7-footer Screen a bunch and getting shut down. But he was sick apparently, so in hindsight it's not strange that he struggled.
 
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mauconnfan said:
Alright I didn’t see this one so a box score has me ready to assume but also ask a couple questions.

I checked in on ESPN play by play and when the Huskies were up early 25-11 I saw Samson Johnson with 6/3 on 3-3 shooting but also did have 2 personal fouls so didn’t expect a lot more minutes first half. I think Tarris already had 4 and 2 as well on 2-3 shooting. So how does Samson Johnson stay there with his stats for the whole game and the only difference for Reed is he missed the only shot he took in the 2nd half?

Also another thing that stood out in the box score is Ball. 0-6 from 3 and 2-8 overall. Not sure why he would get 26 minutes when this happens because he doesn’t guard anyone and he only had 1 rebound . I realize Mahaney isn’t great on D either but he seemed like he was making shots maybe those minutes could have been more balanced? Also Stewie only played 6 at least he can rebound and get putbacks why not a few more minutes for him?

Butler is smallish really wondering why we weren’t hammering it down their throats with Reed and Samson Johnson but again, I didn’t see it. Curious for feedback!
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Okay let me go through each of those points:

For Samson you already called it with the fouls. He was just in foul trouble the whole time but also did not do well guarding Andre Screen either which cut his minutes.

For Reed, he was under the weather as others noted but that didn’t seem an issue in the beginning but I’m guessing as game went on his conditioning wasn’t there for the day. As a result, he also was having difficulty guarding Screen and even worse was not able to finish around him on offense. He also dealt with foul trouble.

Mahaney was great and actually surprised it says he only played 9 min because it felt longer. He was in towards end of game which I’m not sure has happened all season with Diarra. I think at the very end he wasn’t in since they wanted to run very precise sets where Alex or Diarra or McNeeley ended up with ball for a shot and ball can stick a bit with Mahaney.

Stew I think got pulled simply because his shot selection was not the best and they were getting great minutes from McNeeley Karaban and most notably Jayden who looked good on defense. Stew took a really poor midrange jumper which didn’t have a shot and then a step back 3 granted it was wide open but missed those both and that seemed to be it for him.

For Solo, his shot selection was good and had a couple just rim out. It happens.

They did try Tarris a lot in the post to start and it was good in beginning but then Screen was getting the better of him and UConn ended up taking A LOT of midrange jumpers which almost never happens. Surprisingly they made most of them.

EDIT: Will also add on Solo thought it was a little bit of a step back for him on defense yesterday, granted Butler's offense is basically a discounted version of UConn's so the sets are a little more complicated and flowing but he struggled throughout the game. A lot of good film to learn and improve.
 
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mauconnfan said:
Alright I didn’t see this one so a box score has me ready to assume but also ask a couple questions.

I checked in on ESPN play by play and when the Huskies were up early 25-11 I saw Samson Johnson with 6/3 on 3-3 shooting but also did have 2 personal fouls so didn’t expect a lot more minutes first half. I think Tarris already had 4 and 2 as well on 2-3 shooting. So how does Samson Johnson stay there with his stats for the whole game and the only difference for Reed is he missed the only shot he took in the 2nd half?

Also another thing that stood out in the box score is Ball. 0-6 from 3 and 2-8 overall. Not sure why he would get 26 minutes when this happens because he doesn’t guard anyone and he only had 1 rebound . I realize Mahaney isn’t great on D either but he seemed like he was making shots maybe those minutes could have been more balanced? Also Stewie only played 6 at least he can rebound and get putbacks why not a few more minutes for him?

Butler is smallish really wondering why we weren’t hammering it down their throats with Reed and Samson Johnson but again, I didn’t see it. Curious for feedback!
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Stewart was the worst player on the floor yesterday. Mahaney had some nice moments on offense but was still a sieve defensively. Butler’s guards did try to play bully ball a bit, even with his flaws Ball was better equipped to handle it.

Johnson just wasn’t as effective as he was early on. But they did a better job guarding the screen, curl, and roll with him and McNeeley. On top of that, Andre Screen played the game of his life.
 
mauconnfan said:
I checked in on ESPN play by play and when the Huskies were up early 25-11 I saw Samson Johnson with 6/3 on 3-3 shooting but also did have 2 personal fouls so didn’t expect a lot more minutes first half. I think Tarris already had 4 and 2 as well on 2-3 shooting. So how does Samson Johnson stay there with his stats for the whole game and the only difference for Reed is he missed the only shot he took in the 2nd half?
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Johnson had another great start. They got him the ball at the rim and he was active on both ends. His second foul was a tangle of players, someone tripped. The refs said Johnson tripped him. Very early the first half. To the bench he went. Tarris came in. He was sick. Screen at 7'1" was a bad match up for him. Screen gave him trouble around the basket. Screen played a great game. He normally scores 6 points. He had 17. He normally has 6 rebounds. He had 10. He normally blocks one shot a game. He blocked 4 and changed others.

Tarris had problems all game (might have bee because of illness). In the second half he did try to back Screen down but it proved unsuccessful. He played a lot more on the perimeter than usual. In the second half they couldn't get Samson the ball. We took a lot of bad shots in close. Many times (I thought) a lob might work but it was never thrown. Butler was committed and very good at team rebounding.
 
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uconnfan68 said:
Not only him, but Singare and Abraham too. Rotation, we don’t need no stinkin’ rotation.
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Funny you mention that - I was talking to the TV during game - when their center was eating up Johnson and Reed, i was like why not Sigare, Dan?

He’s got the size and can be a better rim protector at times than Johnson.

We won but I give Dan a B- yesterday for coaching.
 
RuffRuff said:
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.
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You are not wrong, but you are missing the point. In the last two years, teams could not keep up for 40 minutes because our guys were fresh and theirs weren’t. That was our “not so secret sauce”. HD may be durable. I do not doubt that he is. And he is playing well. But having 2 HD’s (yes I go back to Nowell) is better than having one HD.
 
Iluvsuebird said:
You are not wrong, but you are missing the point. In the last two years, teams could not keep up for 40 minutes because our guys were fresh and theirs weren’t. That was our “not so secret sauce”. HD may be durable. I do not doubt that he is. And he is playing well. But having 2 HD’s (yes I go back to Nowell) is better than having one HD.
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We don’t have that type of roster this year. Our starting 5 was so good last year our backups could be net negative and we’d still be fine. Our bench will be important but it doesn’t have to be as important.
 
We were outrebounded by a team that ranks 228 in the country in rebounding yesterday, this year we rank as the 134th best rebounding team. That’s a fairly unacceptable stat for a team with title aspirations.

Our starting center averages less rebounds a game than our PG, and our 2G averages close to half as many rebounds as our PG.

The 2G spot is the one place I have the most frustration as Solo has no ability to fill in the blanks. Solo averaging 1.9 rebounds/game and 1.2/assists per game in this system in almost 28 minutes is underwhelming, alongside the defensive liability. When he has 0-5 nights from 3 like he has yesterday I’m not sure what his value is on the court as he had a typical 1 rebound no assist day. He’s a talented kid with a lack of grit & intuition and feels like a player that would have been better suited off the bench in an instant offense role this year than starter.

We need to get better at that spot, I’m just not sure how we do it. I really like what we are in the other 4 spots. I’d say commit to Solo and keep developing but I’m not sure it’s going to happen this season. Him being the worst passer on the team in a system that thrives on sharing the ball is perplexing. To put in perceptive, Ross, Stew and AM all have higher assists per game.
 
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Waquoit said:
And I trust Hurley to know what he's ready for at any given time. He always has a plan. He's not a throw em' to the wolves, sink or swim guy. Maybe that's why he wins so much.
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Playing time can be like multi dimensional chess. Consider he has 4 top recruits next year who will be tested by D1 ball next year and they are going to desire/need minutes. Then he has these sophomores and frosh who will most likely all be back except perhaps McNeeley. He needs to give guys minutes this year for the stretch and experience for next year. All and all you can see that there is a real art to this aspect of coaching. He and his staff are unmatched at this point so it's a relief to know that nobody does it better.
 
RuffRuff said:
We were outrebounded by a team that ranks 228 in the country in rebounding yesterday, this year we rank as the 134th best rebounding team. That’s a fairly unacceptable stat for a team with title aspirations.

Our starting center averages less rebounds a game than our PG, and our 2G averages close to half as many rebounds as our PG.

The 2G spot is the one place I have the most frustration as Solo has no ability to fill in the blanks. Solo averaging 1.9 rebounds/game and 1.2/assists per game in this system in almost 28 minutes is underwhelming, alongside the defensive liability. When he has 0-5 nights from 3 like he has yesterday I’m not sure what his value is on the court as he had a typical 1 rebound no assist day. He’s a talented kid with a lack of grit & intuition and feels like a player that would have been better suited off the bench in an instant offense role this year than starter.

We need to get better at that spot, I’m just not sure how we do it. I really like what we are in the other 4 spots. I’d say commit to Solo and keep developing but I’m not sure it’s going to happen this season. Him being the worst passer on the team in a system that thrives on sharing the ball is perplexing. To put in perceptive, Ross, Stew and AM all have higher assists per game.
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Slide Liam to 2, Stewart or Ross at 3. Get Ball to be a guy off the bench. Ross can be a defensive stopper if he could keep focus. That would also give us a large line up to start a game. You can go smaller later on with Diarra and Nowell at 1-2.

Liam at 2 minimizes his defensive weakness, gives you more size and more attacking at the rim early in the game.
 
dennismenace said:
Playing time can be like multi dimensional chess. Consider he has 4 top recruits next year who will be tested by D1 ball next year and they are going to desire/need minutes. Then he has these sophomores and frosh who will most likely all be back except perhaps McNeeley. He needs to give guys minutes this year for the stretch and experience for next year. All and all you can see that there is a real art to this aspect of coaching. He and his staff are unmatched at this point so it's a relief to know that nobody does it better.
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The good news is we will have teams like DePaul coming up that we can give guys run and see how they respond. Even PC at home might give some leash to see who steps up.
 
Iluvsuebird said:
You are not wrong, but you are missing the point. In the last two years, teams could not keep up for 40 minutes because our guys were fresh and theirs weren’t. That was our “not so secret sauce”. HD may be durable. I do not doubt that he is. And he is playing well. But having 2 HD’s (yes I go back to Nowell) is better than having one HD.
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Our top four guards last year were Newton, Spencer, Castle, and Diarra. That's more than just fresh legs, that's four very talented guys.

Our guards this year are Diarra, Ball, Mahaney, and Nowell. That's one talented guy, two underachievers, and the only other PG option who's glued to the bench.

Big difference in what those fresh legs bring to the party. Dan Hurley has 19 games to figure it out. And that's not even including that Stewart and Ross haven't taken huge steps at F to take the load off AK and LM.

I want to trust Dan Hurley that he built this team with a vision of a three-peat, but if we do get to the promised land, so far it's looking like the frontcourt and Hass will have to be run ragged to get there.
 
storrsroars said:
Our top four guards last year were Newton, Spencer, Castle, and Diarra. That's more than just fresh legs, that's four very talented guys.

Our guards this year are Diarra, Ball, Mahaney, and Nowell. That's one talented guy, two underachievers, and the only other PG option who's glued to the bench.
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I disagree that we only have one talented guard.
 
RuffRuff said:
We were outrebounded by a team that ranks 228 in the country in rebounding yesterday, this year we rank as the 134th best rebounding team. That’s a fairly unacceptable stat for a team with title aspirations.

Our starting center averages less rebounds a game than our PG, and our 2G averages close to half as many rebounds as our PG.

The 2G spot is the one place I have the most frustration as Solo has no ability to fill in the blanks. Solo averaging 1.9 rebounds/game and 1.2/assists per game in this system in almost 28 minutes is underwhelming, alongside the defensive liability. When he has 0-5 nights from 3 like he has yesterday I’m not sure what his value is on the court as he had a typical 1 rebound no assist day. He’s a talented kid with a lack of grit & intuition and feels like a player that would have been better suited off the bench in an instant offense role this year than starter.

We need to get better at that spot, I’m just not sure how we do it. I really like what we are in the other 4 spots. I’d say commit to Solo and keep developing but I’m not sure it’s going to happen this season. Him being the worst passer on the team in a system that thrives on sharing the ball is perplexing. To put in perceptive, Ross, Stew and AM all have higher assists per game.
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phrases highlighted in red says it all. Not going to expound, many have said it all. You are just the latest. Can the lightbulb go on physically and mentally? We need it to, and hope that he is able.
 
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There was a play by Solo last night that sort of encapsulated his lack of situational awareness. He shot a 3 but had it blocked. Then he just stood there and watched the ball drop rather than trying to go get it. He could have been the first to the ball easily, but I don't think his mind processes those kind of basketball plays very quickly. I like the kid, but he needs to be more mentally connected during games.
 
superjohn said:
I disagree that we only have one talented guard.
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We have a gut feeling on Nowell, but he needs to see the court more to confirm it, IMHO.

If you were talking about someone else being a talented guard, please elaborate.
 
Mister P said:
Our All-American comes up with the clutch 3’s at the end.

Good to see Braylon Mullins and his family sitting directly behind the UConn bench clapping and cheering for UConn.
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From Dave Borges's article.

UConn's coaching staff stayed back after the game to watch top recruit Braylon Mullins play about a half hour down the road at Greenfield-Central High. The team will convene on Sunday to go over game film, then head out to their respective homes for a three-day Christmas break before resuming practice on Thursday.
 
It continues to be a work in progress. Ultimately, I think we see 8 guys getting the bigger part of the minutes. That 8th guy may change but right now Stewart is ahead of Ross. He needs a shooter like Mahaney on the floor just for his scoring ability. Reed, Mahaney, Stewart - plus the 5 starters.
 
RuffRuff said:
We were outrebounded by a team that ranks 228 in the country in rebounding yesterday, this year we rank as the 134th best rebounding team. That’s a fairly unacceptable stat for a team with title aspirations.

Our starting center averages less rebounds a game than our PG, and our 2G averages close to half as many rebounds as our PG.

The 2G spot is the one place I have the most frustration as Solo has no ability to fill in the blanks. Solo averaging 1.9 rebounds/game and 1.2/assists per game in this system in almost 28 minutes is underwhelming, alongside the defensive liability. When he has 0-5 nights from 3 like he has yesterday I’m not sure what his value is on the court as he had a typical 1 rebound no assist day. He’s a talented kid with a lack of grit & intuition and feels like a player that would have been better suited off the bench in an instant offense role this year than starter.

We need to get better at that spot, I’m just not sure how we do it. I really like what we are in the other 4 spots. I’d say commit to Solo and keep developing but I’m not sure it’s going to happen this season. Him being the worst passer on the team in a system that thrives on sharing the ball is perplexing. To put in perceptive, Ross, Stew and AM all have higher assists per game.
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If you have been following Uconn for years you can see this as a pattern more often than not regarding guards and rebounding. It's not unusual for us but the main thing is we are usually highly ranked for team rebounds. Not sure when this is going to change.

Solo is a freak elite athlete and he is being given every chance to develop. He is just beginning his 2nd year and seems to be setting up for very fast spot up catch and shooting not unlike Hawkins in year two. I see him handling the ball more this year and driving as well. If we can get him to nail this down then he can focus on other parts of his game. I think he requires patience on Dan Hurley's part but his year to year stats look pretty impressive and he has a ton of upside.

Solo Ball Career Stats - NCAAM - ESPN
 
I should have added that i do like the potential that Ross could bring athletically. Right now he looks like a turnover just waiting to happen on the floor.
 
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