Butler - Report Card

[RayRay34]

Alex Karaban
25-Min. 4-Pts. 5-Reb. 1-Ast. 2-Stl 1-Blk. 0-TO
Was having a typical lunchpail game until he took that fall. Combine that with some foul trouble and he essentially had the rest of the night off. His 360-drive was unexpected in a good way. Get healthy AK! #Legend
Grade: B (incomplete)

Tarris Reed Jr.
21-Min. 16-Pts. 5-Reb. 0-Ast. 0-Stl 3-Blk. 5-TO
Liked how he was using his strength and size to bully his way to the basket. 5 Turnovers is a lot and nullifies a 5-assist game last time out. Some athletic blocks and looks like he's a game or two away from being to where I think the staff expects him. That 10-day rest will hopefully be the time he needs to get himself back to 100%
Grade: B

Braylon Mullins
28-Min. 12-Pts. 3-Reb. 2-Ast. 1-Stl 2-Blk. 2-TO
He just plays different, and I mean that as a compliment. His athleticism and IQ are apparent and once he gets 100% comfortable with the college game we are in for a treat.
Grade: B

Solo Ball
32-Min. 26-Pts. 5-Reb. 2-Ast. 0-Stl 1-Blk. 1-TO
Career high in points and was hitting shots from all over the court. I don't expect 26 with a shooting percentage line of 57/50/88. But do think and hope he's more of this guy than what we've seen so far. Wanted to go with the A+ here, but some of the blow-bys on D keep this one at an A.
Grade: A

Silas Demary Jr.
28-Min. 2-Pts. 6-Reb. 11-Ast. 1-Stl 1-Blk. 3-TO
Career high with 11 assists and is averaging 2+ more assists that he did last year at Georgia. Staff is obviously asking him to change his game and think he's looking to be more of a facilitator while his shot isn't falling (1-8, 0-1). TO numbers past few games are a bit high, but he looked good moving out there and was able to stay out of foul trouble
Grade: B

Jaylin Stewart
7-Min. 0-Pts. 2-Reb. 0-Ast. 0-Stl 0-Blk. 0-TO
Hope that shoulder injury isn't anything major. Take the next game off and then a 10-day break to get healthy.
Grade: incomplete

Eric Reibe
18-Min. 6-Pts. 7-Reb. 1-Ast. 0-Stl 4-Blk. 0-TO
Hitting threes, blocking shots & grabbing boards. Yes please from our backup center.
Grade: A

Malachi Smith
12-Min. 0-Pts. 2-Reb. 1-Ast. 0-Stl 0-Blk. 0-TO
He'll be fine. Didn't have his best game on a day when we didn't really need it. Having said that, practice those FT's!
Grade: C-

Jayden Ross
25-Min. 13-Pts. 8-Reb. 1-Ast. 1-Stl 1-Blk. 1-TO
Woah.
Grade: A+

Overall - B+

Game Balls - Jayden Ross and Solo Ball

 

[Lafayette]

Good game against scrappy but not top tier. Butler and a home game.

AK and JStew injuries to hopefully heal with time off.

Strategy was to limit Ajayi (3-12 fg) and give Bizjack the business (2-9 fg). Jones was their high scorer with 13.

We had too many answers for them and will vs DePaul but @Xavier will be our first road test then @Seton hall for revenge (will be there!)

11-1

 

[NewBlood]

Good game against scrappy but not top tier. Butler and a home game.

AK and JStew injuries to hopefully heal with time off.

Strategy was to limit Ajayi (3-12 fg) and give Bizjack the business (2-9 fg). Jones was their high scorer with 13.

We had too many answers for them and will vs DePaul but @Xavier will be our first road test then @Seton hall for revenge (will be there!)

11-1

Not top tier nationally but will be in the conference. Aren’t they 42 overall in the country?

 

[RuffRuff]

Not top tier nationally but will be in the conference. Aren’t they 42 overall in the country?

They looked better than I thought they would. They had good size/brawn, had shooters. It's the first time I spent time watching, and I came away pretty impressed. They look better than Nova to me. I'll be curious to their matchups with the Hall, as I can see these two battling it out for 3rd best team in the BE.

AK taking a back seat last night was not a bad thing. We really didn't need him much and it was important to get things going with some of the other players. Hurley said it as much in the post game, talking about solidifying rotations.

 

[DW1361]

RayRay, I would like to know how you grade the team offense and the defense overall. It appears to me the defense is progressing faster than the offense. And come on, Jayden has his best game as a dog and all you got is “whoa”? I want a summary of his game please. I don’t know why there isn’t a game ball thread for Jayden? Others had great contributions, but to me Jayden was the most exciting guy on the court for his all around game. I hope his A+ game will be what we come to expect every game. He looked at home playing the 4 spelling Karaban. Something to build on here. I really want to see Karaban reduced to 32 minutes to keep him fresh for the stretch run. Both Ross and Stewart stepping up makes me hope it is possible.

 

[Lafayette]

Not top tier nationally but will be in the conference. Aren’t they 42 overall in the country?

Based on early buy games. They have not played a ranked team until us and lost to Boise St and SMU. Likely lose @Creighton, vs Nova, vs St.Johns. Providense was OT and they are 7-5 team. Would not get our hopes up that Butler will rise.

 

[HooperScooper]

They looked better than I thought they would. They had good size/brawn, had shooters. It's the first time I spent time watching, and I came away pretty impressed. They look better than Nova to me. I'll be curious to their matchups with the Hall, as I can see these two battling it out for 3rd best team in the BE.

I haven't watched Butler at all before this game but they were way worse this game than I was expecting based on the hype and kenpom rating. You thought they were better? They don't rebound, their defense is subpar, and they missed a lot of open/easy shots. Obviously some/most of that was UConn's doing so I'll be curious how they do in the Big East. They didn't exactly pass the eye test to me.

 

[thekollieman]

I find myself looking forward to these report cards. Thanks RayRay!

 

[RuffRuff]

I haven't watched Butler at all before this game but they were way worse this game than I was expecting based on the hype and kenpom rating. You thought they were better? They don't rebound, their defense is subpar, and they missed a lot of open/easy shots. Obviously some/most of that was UConn's doing so I'll be curious how they do in the Big East. They didn't exactly pass the eye test to me.

I tend to look at teams for the player quality in a single game, not always how they performed in that game. They were playing UConn on the road.

From what I gather, they're actually a great rebounding team - had an off night, we rebounded really well. I thought they were pretty good on my eye test. I think we really executed well defensively.

 

[RayRay34]

RayRay, I would like to know how you grade the team offense and the defense overall. It appears to me the defense is progressing faster than the offense. And come on, Jayden has his best game as a dog and all you got is “whoa”? I want a summary of his game please. I don’t know why there isn’t a game ball thread for Jayden? Others had great contributions, but to me Jayden was the most exciting guy on the court for his all around game. I hope his A+ game will be what we come to expect every game. He looked at home playing the 4 spelling Karaban. Something to build on here. I really want to see Karaban reduced to 32 minutes to keep him fresh for the stretch run. Both Ross and Stewart stepping up makes me hope it is possible.

I’ll add an offense and defense grade moving forward. I try to take both into consideration

As far as my write-up on Jayden:
I couldn’t think of a more complimentary way to sum up my thoughts.
What else was there to say? He got the first A+ of the season from me.

 

[UCan3]

Alex Karaban
25-Min. 4-Pts. 5-Reb. 1-Ast. 2-Stl 1-Blk. 0-TO
Was having a typical lunchpail game until he took that fall. Combine that with some foul trouble and he essentially had the rest of the night off. His 360-drive was unexpected in a good way. Get healthy AK! #Legend
Grade: B (incomplete)

Tarris Reed Jr.
21-Min. 16-Pts. 5-Reb. 0-Ast. 0-Stl 3-Blk. 5-TO
Liked how he was using his strength and size to bully his way to the basket. 5 Turnovers is a lot and nullifies a 5-assist game last time out. Some athletic blocks and looks like he's a game or two away from being to where I think the staff expects him. That 10-day rest will hopefully be the time he needs to get himself back to 100%
Grade: B

Braylon Mullins
28-Min. 12-Pts. 3-Reb. 2-Ast. 1-Stl 2-Blk. 2-TO
He just plays different, and I mean that as a compliment. His athleticism and IQ are apparent and once he gets 100% comfortable with the college game we are in for a treat.
Grade: B

Solo Ball
32-Min. 26-Pts. 5-Reb. 2-Ast. 0-Stl 1-Blk. 1-TO
Career high in points and was hitting shots from all over the court. I don't expect 26 with a shooting percentage line of 57/50/88. But do think and hope he's more of this guy than what we've seen so far. Wanted to go with the A+ here, but some of the blow-bys on D keep this one at an A.
Grade: A

Silas Demary Jr.
28-Min. 2-Pts. 6-Reb. 11-Ast. 1-Stl 1-Blk. 3-TO
Career high with 11 assists and is averaging 2+ more assists that he did last year at Georgia. Staff is obviously asking him to change his game and think he's looking to be more of a facilitator while his shot isn't falling (1-8, 0-1). TO numbers past few games are a bit high, but he looked good moving out there and was able to stay out of foul trouble
Grade: B

Jaylin Stewart
7-Min. 0-Pts. 2-Reb. 0-Ast. 0-Stl 0-Blk. 0-TO
Hope that shoulder injury isn't anything major. Take the next game off and then a 10-day break to get healthy.
Grade: incomplete

Eric Reibe
18-Min. 6-Pts. 7-Reb. 1-Ast. 0-Stl 4-Blk. 0-TO
Hitting threes, blocking shots & grabbing boards. Yes please from our backup center.
Grade: A

Malachi Smith
12-Min. 0-Pts. 2-Reb. 1-Ast. 0-Stl 0-Blk. 0-TO
He'll be fine. Didn't have his best game on a day when we didn't really need it. Having said that, practice those FT's!
Grade: C-

Jayden Ross
25-Min. 13-Pts. 8-Reb. 1-Ast. 1-Stl 1-Blk. 1-TO
Woah.
Grade: A+

Overall - B+

Game Balls - Jayden Ross and Solo Ball

Good grades as usual.
Only change is I might make Solo an A+ and Smith a D+. He was really not playing well and thankfully we overcame it. He has to be better at line and with the ball. Some of his shots look like he has not confidence in putting them up there / short / not close to going in. I trust he will get better - not calling for any changes in PT but helping some time off gets him back on track.

 

[inWV]

I’ll add an offense and defense grade moving forward. I try to take both into consideration

As far as my write-up on Jayden:
I couldn’t think of a more complimentary way to sum up my thoughts.
What else was there to say? He got the first A+ of the season from me.

Kid came in early when the team seemed in a collective head fog and changed the vibe on the court completely. It happened again later, but wasn’t as noticeable. Super active and springy. One of the TV dudes said he probably wasn’t a big part of the Butler scout sheet. He will be next time.

 

[DW1361]

It was said that Stewart was flying around the court in the Texas game, but from what I had observed he was just floating and taking advantage of the opportunities that fell in his lap. With Ross in the Butler game, from my observation, he was floating, flying and stinging like a bee. If he and Mullins can both put it together, we will have some very entertaining games. I loved how Reed gave Ross a big hug at the end of the game. This team is close and that may be the biggest factor on how far they go.

 

[ctchamps]

I’ll add an offense and defense grade moving forward. I try to take both into consideration

As far as my write-up on Jayden:
I couldn’t think of a more complimentary way to sum up my thoughts.
What else was there to say? He got the first A+ of the season from me.

Whoa!