Butler Post Game Thread

[RuffRuff]

Anyone who thinks college kids should play a full game and expect them to compete at a high level for the whole game is either trolling or has no idea what they are talking about. NBA teams manage minutes like pitch counts, and even high school coaches track playing time to maintain their top players. Even back in the day, players like El-Amin would take plays off to rest up. NBA players did this all the time before coaches and trainers really started paying attention to minutes played.

On top of deteriorating performance from overplaying the talent, fatigue is cumulative, and bad steps or other mistake are more likely when a player is tired than when they are fresh. Or we could do like Auriemma and play one of the greatest players of the last decade in the last minute of a 20+ point blowout, and see where that gets us.

NBA game is 48 minutes, 3x/week over 82 games. Newton played 38 minutes in semi/finals in the BE tournament last year, after playing 33 in a blowout against Xavier. I still question how much these kids really wear down as the college game isn't nearly as rigorous as an NBA season 3x longer, with longer games in a more compact time frame. Braden Smith plays all 40 minutes a ton, as an example.

It feels overblown a bit, especially for a guard. I could see if it was a big.

 

[jibsey]

Ehh. Dan needs to be careful. That stuff doesn't fly as well when you're 19th in the poll.

He does this for 2 reasons. Number one take the focus off his players who are having a tough time and take the hit himself, and two to let the refs be aware of his complaint. Doesn’t mean it’s going to work but he’s trying.

 

[Palatine]

Man, Jaylin is like the most beloved player on this board. Last four games.... 14, 0, 14, 4. Not sure how you all think he's "figuring out his role" when he is more or less invisible every other game. He's got tons of talent for sure. But nothing has shown me he's figured out really anything.

Also, it would help if he could guard someone. He's just as bad as Solo and yes, he was great against Dixon, a guy Stew clearly had an athletic advantage on. But it's not a surprise that opposing teams 2/3's tend to have career games against us. Solo and Stew are the defenders.

This kid was thrust into a starters role because of injury. He is learning on the fly. He is playing in critical moments. Sometimes he shows out, sometime not. One of his biggest adjustments is letting the game come to him. It's a sign of maturity that he isn't forcing anything. So it's not surprising his results are uneven.

I remember the freshman who would throw up a three in the first seconds of his first possession. He is way beyond that. He is contributing. Sometimes those contributions are major. Hopefully by the time Liam comes back he will be more consistent. My eyes tell me, it's coming.

 

[TheHorde]

did he lie?

Not at all. It’s hilarious to me how people feign outrage over that and him and not other things and other coaches and players.

 

[superjohn]

Not at all. It’s hilarious to me how people feign outrage over that and him and not other things and other coaches and players.

He's arrogant and the biggest name in the sport. Some people are going to love him and some are going to hate him. I enjoy all of it except when a tantrum costs us at the end of a game.

 

[TheHorde]

He's arrogant and the biggest name in the sport. Some people are going to love him and some are going to hate him. I enjoy all of it except when a tantrum costs us at the end of a game.

I get why he does it and there are better spots to do it than others for sure. Some have said it hasn’t worked and has hurt the team. That’s debatable. Certainly he can pick his spots and just how vociferous he is. But I don’t want to hear the whining when other coaches are going to the center court logo to argue. And watch any Chiefs game and try to defend the officiating in their games as well as the flopping and baiting for flags by Mahomes. If folks are not upset about those situations, then they shouldn’t be about Hurley.

 

[RuffRuff]

 

[UCTitleTown]

I'm also wondering why we don't see Solo's 40 inch plus vertical in games. I was expecting him to posterize fools this season. He needs to play angry.

 

[freescooter]

"Billy Donocan was just a good coach when he left for the NBA in 2015."

His last four seasons in college he went to three elite 8's and a final 4 in his last season. Four final 4's, two national championships.

Yep, just a good coach. What???

I agree he was an excellent coach. But in 2007 he was the next big thing. He won zero championships after that. Zilch. He had good teams and not so good ones. In his last year at Florida he went 16-17 fwiw, not to the Final Four. In 2007 he was going to be the next John Wooden. By 2015 he was still viewed as good but not as good as Coach K, or Roy Williams or Jim Calhoun or some others who had won multiple titles in multiple years. Elite 8s are Elite 8s. Nobody says “he is a great coach. He got us to 3 Elite 8s.” Heck they wanted to fire Calhoun for only getting to Elite 8s. It was kind of nostalgic when he got to a Final Four. Donovan was the new face of college basketball in 2007. By 2015 he was a good coach. You want to say very good, I agree with that. UF fan base wasn’t crushed when he left. They would have been in 2007. winning back to back is a huge accomplishment obviously. But college basketball is a what have you done for me lately business.

Look, it happens. Perceptions change. When Calipari won at Kentucky I remember reading a piece (about how he had “reinvented” college basketball and he would probably win many more with his ability to recruit 5 star talent. Doubt anyone says that now.

 

[Robrio89]

This deserves its own thread man, this was great

 

[RuffRuff]

This deserves its own thread man, this was great

Go for it

 

[Iluvsuebird]

More than one thing can be true. I actually could not finish watching the game last night. I found myself screaming at the television, and I might have scared my family a bit. However, the reasons why I was upset may surprise some:

• First, I could not take the refs any longer. And its exactly what DH said after the game: we fouled, sure. But they were just as physical and their physicality was not called. Now, please hear this: I know that the refs missed calls both ways. I noticed that too, particularly with out of bounds calls. But the ref's failure to stop the constant holding by opponents is far more harmful than the stupid fouls our guys commit. If you are going to call a tight game, call it so on both sides of the court. That's all I ask.
• You all know that I love our coaches. I would say that their choices relative to our defensive calls have been weak. To wit, man defense versus zone versus pressing, etc. We are trying to guard like we did in the last two years. We no longer have that personnel. Additionally, I have to believe that we are now feeling the effect of not giving Nowell significant time earlier in the year when healthy, and not giving Abraham any time. My love for them does not blind me: they put all their eggs on three players that are really limited defensively: Stewart, Ross and Aidan. It would be nice to know if Abraham and Nowell may have provided something something defensively, had they had been given a chance.

All of that said, Liam comes back and we are back to being a top 10 team. No doubt about it in my mind. And to those of you that mock that our best player is a freshman: get a clue. This kid is special. Only player who can penetrate and create successfully. Only wing player who is strong enough to consistently get boards and play tough D. Dude is a baller. By the way, the number 2 team in the country right now, their best player is also a freshman.

My take about Hurley's "I am the best coach in the world, dont turn your back to me" comment:

• REF'S DONT TURN THEIR BACK ON COACHES THEY RESPECT. I TOO, AM TRIGGER BY DISRESPECT.
• In my experience, sometimes you gotta demand respect.
• He is, in fact, the best coach in America. Is anyone really disputing that???

 

[uconn_jack]

Unless he laughed right after he said it, he meant it.

I have no problem wit h the "Don't turn you back on me" part. If he followed that up with something about being the premier team in the sport or something, I'd probably be okay with that too.

But saying "I am the best coach in the ducking sport" is just an ugly, conceited look. Being arrogant is one thing, you need that to a degree to be that competitive and sucessful, but that comes across as petty and selfish, even to his fans and team.

 

[WrenchFan69]

I think the skill and roster construction is the bigger issue, but agreed that this is the first UConn team in a long time that I can remember without DOGS. Andre Jackson, Cam Spencer, Kevin Freeman, Ed Saunders, Donny Marshall, Tyrese Martin, Shabazz Napier, Rod Sellers, Kemba Walker, Ryan Boatright. Dudes who were liable to blow their lid at any time and get T'd up. Guys who oozed competitiveness. Liam definitely has it, and we need that, but it's a glaring team deficit. Hurley talked about this the other day. Not sure we are going to toughen up with this roster, but I hope we start factoring this into our recruiting because playing with a chip on your shoulder matters.

I think every team needs at least a handful of dudes where, if a fistfight breaks out on the court, they're running into it rather than away from it. I don't know who we have that fits the bill outside Diarra. Maybe Stewart and McNeeley.

 

[RuffRuff]

I think every team needs at least a handful of dudes where, if a fistfight breaks out on the court, they're running into it rather than away from it. I don't know who we have that fits the bill outside Diarra. Maybe Stewart and McNeeley.

Diarra on the switchblade, Jaylen on the nunchucks, Mahaney with the slingshot, Tarris with his fists.

 

[NHUConnfan]

I agree he was an excellent coach. But in 2007 he was the next big thing. He won zero championships after that. Zilch. He had good teams and not so good ones. In his last year at Florida he went 16-17 fwiw, not to the Final Four. In 2007 he was going to be the next John Wooden. By 2015 he was still viewed as good but not as good as Coach K, or Roy Williams or Jim Calhoun or some others who had won multiple titles in multiple years. Elite 8s are Elite 8s. Nobody says “he is a great coach. He got us to 3 Elite 8s.” Heck they wanted to fire Calhoun for only getting to Elite 8s. It was kind of nostalgic when he got to a Final Four. Donovan was the new face of college basketball in 2007. By 2015 he was a good coach. You want to say very good, I agree with that. UF fan base wasn’t crushed when he left. They would have been in 2007. winning back to back is a huge accomplishment obviously. But college basketball is a what have you done for me lately business.

Look, it happens. Perceptions change. When Calipari won at Kentucky I remember reading a piece (about how he had “reinvented” college basketball and he would probably win many more with his ability to recruit 5 star talent. Doubt anyone says that now.

Well, I think we can still say Cal reinvented college basketball. It just turns out the rest of us get to play his game now (legally). And he's not so good when the playing floor is even.

 

[NHUConnfan]

I have no problem wit h the "Don't turn you back on me" part. If he followed that up with something about being the premier team in the sport or something, I'd probably be okay with that too.

But saying "I am the best coach in the ducking sport" is just an ugly, conceited look. Being arrogant is one thing, you need that to a degree to be that competitive and sucessful, but that comes across as petty and selfish, even to his fans and team.

I can't believe we're criticizing Hurley for being pompous. Like, this has been the UConn basketball brand for 3 decades.

 

[Mike Honcho]

I think every team needs at least a handful of dudes where, if a fistfight breaks out on the court, they're running into it rather than away from it. I don't know who we have that fits the bill outside Diarra. Maybe Stewart and McNeeley.

Agree. Does The Wrench fit the bill?