For Natalie Butler fans | Page 3 | The Boneyard

For Natalie Butler fans

Scoop said:
You're a WNBA GM. You're on the clock. You need post player. You've got two choices, Butler or Mercedes Russell. Which one do you take?
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Interesting post. Prediction here is Nat is drafted about 20 but ends up having fun and making a good buck in Europe. See her doing this for 5-7 years, then pursuing another career.
 
Centerstream said:
One seems to disappear in games, just standing around, trotting back on defense, trotting up on offense, taking plays off. I wonder which one that would be?????
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:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
It's not even a choice if I was a WNBA GM I'd pick Natalie Butler in a heart beat!
Everything screams out at you over achiever! The upside is off the charts!
IMHO why take a "maybe" over a "sure fire hit"?
For Russell to achieve 1,500 points and 1,000 RB's it says what could she have achieved with a better work effort?
 
Centerstream said:
One seems to disappear in games, just standing around, trotting back on defense, trotting up on offense, taking plays off. I wonder which one that would be?????
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:rolleyes: How many guesses do we get?!?
 
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Centerstream said:
One seems to disappear in games, just standing around, trotting back on defense, trotting up on offense, taking plays off. I wonder which one that would be?????
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Keep in mind Russell is playing for Holly and her non-offense scheme. Russell may be another Elizabeth Williams who did not thrill anyone with her play at Duke, however, in the WNBA with proper coaching and motivation she has become a very productive player. Russell was a very highly ranked player, #1 by some. Butler was not very highly ranked. Even though I follow Butler at George Mason, I would have to pick Russell with more upside and played against stronger competition. Thus far she seems to be past her foot problems.
 
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SVCBeercats said:
Keep in mind Russell is playing for Holly and her non-offense scheme. Russell may be another Elizabeth Williams who did not thrill anyone with her play at Duke, however, in the WNBA with proper coaching and motivation she has become a very productive player. Russell was a very highly ranked player, #1 by some. Butler was not very highly ranked. Even though I follow Butler at George Mason, I would have to pick Russell with more upside and played against stronger competition. Thus far she seems to be past her foot problems.
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And I appreciate your opinion and can't argue with what you believe.
 
SVCBeercats said:
Keep in mind Russell is playing for Holly and her non-offense scheme.
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A lot of Tenn's offense is get it to Russell. They aren't very good at it at times, leading them to refrain from the effort in the second half, giving Holly material for her post-game presser, but it is a big part of their game and has been forever.
 
George Mason has now tied it's all time season wins record with the help of the former Husky Natalie Butler. She of course had another double double (27 in a row). She had 23 points and 24 rebounds, a nice day's work.
 
RockyMTblue2 said:
A lot of Tenn's offense is get it to Russell. They aren't very good at it at times, leading them to refrain from the effort in the second half, giving Holly material for her post-game presser, but it is a big part of their game and has been forever.
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One thing I noticed in the few games I've seen Tenn play is that Russell is sort of passive - more of a finesse player. More than that, her passivity creates problems in that she does not "demand" the ball in the post. And in the somewhat rare situations where she does, the guards do not necessarily feed her there. Maybe that's usually what they do, but in the few games I've seen, she's not nearly as dominant as she should be...

It's always been a problem at Tenn historically. Post players usually only score on O-boards and putbacks. The guards would rather dribble around and jack up an off balance shot rather than work to find the open teammage, especially one of the post players who has worked hard to establish position and is calling for the ball...
 
EricLA said:
One thing I noticed in the few games I've seen Tenn play is that Russell is sort of passive - more of a finesse player. More than that, her passivity creates problems in that she does not "demand" the ball in the post. And in the somewhat rare situations where she does, the guards do not necessarily feed her there. Maybe that's usually what they do, but in the few games I've seen, she's not nearly as dominant as she should be...

It's always been a problem at Tenn historically. Post players usually only score on O-boards and putbacks. The guards would rather dribble around and jack up an off balance shot rather than work to find the open teammage, especially one of the post players who has worked hard to establish position and is calling for the ball...
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It is hard to fathom as long as it has gone on. Russell just does not have the mentality to be an assertive post and that is why I would not waste a draft pick on her.
 
On the Patriots Senior Day, GMU leads LaSalle 31-27. Natalie has 12 points and 7 rebounds.
 
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Roger G said:
Apparently, the coaches in the A-10 didn't expect much from Natalie. "Coaches placed Butler on the Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Third Team out of respect." Now, the article says, she is easily the A-10 midseason player.
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One of the biggest mistakes a fan can make, is assuming that coaches know what they are suppose to know, and know what they are doing. Remember, they ALL passed on Tom Brady 5 times during the 2000 NFL draft (drafted in the 6th round). They ALL passed on Russell Wilson twice in 2012, as they did with Joe Montana in 1979 (both 3rd round picks). Some coaches can see latent potential talent in a player better than others.

Jerry West was/is very good at evaluating talent. He traded for Kobe Bryant (Charlotte) right after the draft. Look how that worked out. They all knew about Butler, but I doubt any of them took the time to look at her play (film) during her time at UConn, or talk to any of Geno's staff. They simply went by what they saw and remembered from seeing her on TV during her time at UConn, which was certainly not indicative or suggestive of the potential she had, or the stats she's producing. They assumed she was just going to come in and finish her college career without any fanfare or notoriety, wrong.

George Mason head coach Milleson is graciously reaping the fruits of Geno's labor. The things that Butler is doing, the honed skills and the aggressive mindset she brings into a game, the player she has become, are ALL by-products of her spending 3 years at UConn under Geno and his staff. Milleson knows that, and is eternally grateful.
 
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Scoop said:
George Mason coach Milleson is reaping the fruits of Geno's labor. The things that Butler is doing, the honed skills and mindset she brings into a game, the player she has become, are ALL by-products of her spending 3 years at UConn under Geno. Milleson knows that.
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Nothing truer than this. I'd only add that, besides honing her basketball skills under Geno and his coaching staff, Butler's body also benefited tremendously from the training and conditioning regime at UCONN. The UCONN program is all about developing a player both physically and mentally to go along with her skill set.

Imagine the kind of individual offensive or defensive records that would have been set by KLS, Pheesa, Gabby, or Kia had any of them transferred to another school after spending 2 years at UCONN. It is somewhat mind-boggling.
 
Scoop said:
One of the biggest mistakes a fan can make, is assuming that coaches know what they are suppose to know, and what they are doing. Remember, They ALL passed on Tom Brady 5 times during the 2000 NFL draft. They ALL passed on Russell Wilson twice in 2012, as they did with Joe Montana in 1979 (both 3rd round picks). Some coaches can see latent potential talent in a player better than others.

Jerry West was/is very good at evaluating talent. He traded for Kobe Bryant (Charlotte) right after the draft. Look how that worked out. They all knew about Butler, but I doubt any of them took the time to look at her play (film) during her time at UConn, or talk to any of Geno's staff. They simply went by what they saw and remembered from seeing her on TV during her time at UConn, which was certainly not indicative or suggestive of the potential she had, or the stats she's producing.

George Mason coach Milleson is reaping the fruits of Geno's labor. The things that Butler is doing, the honed skills and mindset she brings into a game, the player she has become, are ALL by-products of her spending 3 years at UConn under Geno. Milleson knows that.
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Not ALL. She had SOME before she got to UCONN.
 
donalddoowop said:
Not ALL. She had SOME before she got to UCONN.
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Yes, of course she did, and so did Stevens. But look at the player she is now, versus the player she was a Duke. BIG difference.

My point being that regardless of what she had upon her arrival in Storrs, she left a much better player and was a more complete player than when she arrived. She was taught and expected to do things at UConn she was never asked to do at GT. She'll also be more attractive (I'm not suggesting that she will get drafted, or make a roster) to professional basketball teams now, than she may have been had she stayed at Georgetown.
 
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29th straight double double to end the season. Too bad she just missed it in her first game.
 
I've been watching basketball a long time. I've never seen a 43 point run before. We may never see another one in our lifetimes. This game went as expected. Everyone played, and no one was injured. A good day and a good week for UConn.
 
Scoop said:
I've been watching basketball a long time. I've never seen a 43 point run before. We may never see another one in our lifetimes. This game went as expected. Everyone played, and no one was injured. A good day and a good week for UConn.
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And this is related to Natalie Butler, how?
But I agree with you about the SMU game tonight...
 
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