I like Butler's defense but.....

[Hongster]

Butler was the reason why we had a convincing win over Houston last night. I really like her confidence of looking up the court without hesitation for them long home run passes.

But, can you imagine if she knows a few moves in the paint after receiving the ball? Too often, she would step out and shoot over the defender. That kind of moves to me is just a shooting yourself in the foot and decreasing the probability of scoring.

I would love to see her develop some pivot moves, ducks, fakes whatever you do to get the defender to jump and or committing foul, then use all that 6 foot 5 frame toward the basket and kiss it off back board.
Man! if she can do that, we will have another Tuck, and that will be unbeatable.

 

[Icebear]

Butler was the reason why we had a convincing win over Houston last night. I really like her confidence of looking up the court without hesitation for them long home run passes.

But, can you imagine if she knows a few moves in the paint after receiving the ball? Too often, she would step out and shoot over the defender. That kind of moves to me is just a shooting yourself in the foot and decreasing the probability of scoring.

I would love to see her develop some pivot moves, ducks, fakes whatever you do to get the defender to jump and or committing foul, then use all that 6 foot 5 frame toward the basket and kiss it off back board.
Man! if she can do that, we will have another Tuck, and that will be unbeatable.

She used such moves in the first game she played.

 

[sarals24]

It will come. Our coaches are amazing at developing posts.

 

[JoePgh]

What I especially noticed about her play against Houston was the quality of her outlet passes. In hockey it would be called "headmanning the puck" -- hitting your teammate who is furthest forward with your pass. Natalie did that consistently. Her first instinct after getting a rebound is obviously to look for the touchdown pass, or at least a pass to midcourt to start the fast break, and she made those passes accurately.

That can't necessarily be said of the other UConn rebounders.

 

[caramel]

Having injuries myself,she may need to get confidence in her thumb before she starts doing more inside on offense.Mentally,she may be hesitant with her inside game.Check the difference we will see in a month or two of continuous game time.You may be surprised just how many moves she really has.

 

[CTtransplant]

My guess is with the splint on her thumb, Natalie is constrained to going in only one direction at present. Opposing scouting reports would surely note this, and therefore make any inside moves more difficult. I bet those type of post moves will come, but not until the left hand can be fully utilized.

 

[jdubct]

My guess is with the splint on her thumb, Natalie is constrained to going in only one direction at present. Opposing scouting reports would surely note this, and therefore make any inside moves more difficult. I bet those type of post moves will come, but not until the left hand can be fully utilized.

Agree. In the meantime she can can continue to rebound, block shots and pass the ball well.

 

[Kaizen]

I wish she can play like Stef Dolson good in both defense and offense (both are 6'5").

 

[Carnac]

I wish she can play like Stef Dolson good in both defense and offense (both are 6'5").

Kaizen, I see no reason why she can't. The same coaching staff that developed Dolson is still there!!!
They've still got some of that old school know how left in their saddle bags.

Butler is a sponge. She is very coachable. If they did it for Steph, they can do it for her. As the late singer "Brook Benton" said in one his 1950's hit songs........"It's just a mater of time".

I'd bet an "ice cold Dr. Pepper" that Butler will blossom into the player we've been led to believe she can be by the end of February.

The thumb should be fully healed by then, and her familiarity and confidence should be where it needs to be.

 

[Gus Mahler]

What I especially noticed about her play against Houston was the quality of her outlet passes. In hockey it would be called "headmanning the puck" -- hitting your teammate who is furthest forward with your pass. Natalie did that consistently. Her first instinct after getting a rebound is obviously to look for the touchdown pass, or at least a pass to midcourt to start the fast break, and she made those passes accurately.

That can't necessarily be said of the other UConn rebounders.

Yup. Reminiscent of The Great Dolson.

 

[huskeynut]

Every once in a while, I wonder what goes on in people's brain.

Natalie has missed almost a year and a half of game experience. She needs to get her "sea legs." This will come as the season progresses.
The surgery and having to wear a splint now will slow her down a bit. But we have already seen in three games that she has a very nice 15 footer from the foul line. She can rebound, turn and get the outlet pass down court quickly and with accuraccy. The rest will come.

She is not Big Mama Steph - she is Natalie. She will be just fine come March.

 

[dtbtbtb]

I love the way Butler keeps the ball high when catching or rebounding it. It's a basic fundamental skill for a big but you see too many bigs who bring the ball down and allow a guard to steal the ball. Not with Nat...her outlet pass and general passing skills are reminiscent of Dolsom. She'll be a very very fine player for UConn!!!

 

[rugbymate]

Having injuries myself,she may need to get confidence in her thumb before she starts doing more inside on offense.Mentally,she may be hesitant with her inside game.Check the difference we will see in a month or two of continuous game time.You may be surprised just how many moves she really has.

Agree with you completely....when one goes in the low o post with the intent of getting a close to the basket shot one normally holds the ball with two hands and rather tightly, which may be uncomfortable.....she also exposes herself to weak side defense or a guard dropping down to try to knock the ball from her hands....an inadvertent foul could be painful or worse.....i think its great that she focuses on shot development in the 5-15 foot range and the under the basket stuff will come in due course....by the way not only does she have a surprising range of basketball skills but you have to love her enthusiasm, energy and leadership.

 

[CocoHusky]

What I especially noticed about her play against Houston was the quality of her outlet passes. In hockey it would be called "headmanning the puck" -- hitting your teammate who is furthest forward with your pass. Natalie did that consistently. Her first instinct after getting a rebound is obviously to look for the touchdown pass, or at least a pass to midcourt to start the fast break, and she made those passes accurately.
That can't necessarily be said of the other UConn rebounders.

I agree with you about the quality of Natalie's the outlet passes. I was also impressed by this pass late in the game out of the Horns set which has been in the UCONN playbook for 100+ years. A post in the UCONN offense has got to make this pass and clearly Natalie can even with a bandaged hand.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Agree with you completely....when one goes in the low o post with the intent of getting a close to the basket shot one normally holds the ball with two hands and rather tightly, which may be uncomfortable.....she also exposes herself to weak side defense or a guard dropping down to try to knock the ball from her hands....an inadvertent foul could be painful or worse.....i think its great that she focuses on shot development in the 5-15 foot range and the under the basket stuff will come in due course....by the way not only does she have a surprising range of basketball skills but you have to love her enthusiasm, energy and leadership.

I'm convinced she's a warrior.

 

[Jimbo]

I thought this recent statement by Marisa about Butler was telling: "She is a really unselfish player so sometimes she is looking to make plays for somebody else instead of going in there, burying somebody and get two points but every day we are chipping away from that and she is getting much better."
http://elmcitytoeaglevillenhr.blogspot.com/2016/01/butler-putting-work-in-at-uconn.html
If the coaching staff thinks Natalie is being too unselfish, only a few games into her UConn career, that suggests to me that they expect her to be a real gamechanger on offense as well as defense. How quickly that happens remains to be seen, but I think the tools are certainly there. We may see a larger array of low-post moves as her thumb heals. Another factor might be the size of the opponents recently guarding her; it could be that Natalie's been opting to use her height to shoot over defenders who are so much shorter than she is. As far as Dolson goes, I don't know that it's realistic just yet to expect Natalie to show off all the versatility that Stef had her senior year. But imo sophomore Natalie is ahead of sophomore Stef, and that's a very good sign for the future.

 

[huskyd]

Every once in a while, I wonder what goes on in people's brain.

Natalie has missed almost a year and a half of game experience. She needs to get her "sea legs." This will come as the season progresses.
The surgery and having to wear a splint now will slow her down a bit. But we have already seen in three games that she has a very nice 15 footer from the foul line. She can rebound, turn and get the outlet pass down court quickly and with accuraccy. The rest will come.

She is not Big Mama Steph - she is Natalie. She will be just fine come March.

You're correct that Natalie is not Stef. But if it turns out that Butler has Dolson's talent for interior passing (the backdoor cut that Coco illustrates above) and can continue to sink 15ft. shots, she will provide a unique option to the team. Natalie might not BE Stef, but there's no harm in hoping she'll be an approximation.

 

[MilfordHusky]

When Natalie shows up with purple hair, we'll know she's fully there.

 

[MJL243]

Moriah Jefferson on Natalie: "Her personality is crazy, absolutely crazy on and off the court, I don't even know how to explain it. Nat just sings and dances all the time. You wouldn't expect it from her and then you just turn around ... It's kind of like another Stefanie Dolson. I guess it's something we recruit here, 6-5 singing and dancing post players."

https://www.sny.tv/uconn/news/butler-patiently-waiting-till-next-year/148623886

 

[chrissaran]

Hongster, Natalie's injured thumb has a lot to do with what she can and can't do. If she hurts it again, it lessens our chances of winning the championship because Breanna and Morgan will be worn down. They are playing more minutes than last year. Kaizen, she's already a better defender than Stef. Rebounding was not one of Stef's strong points. The offense will come when the thumb is completely healed.

 

[iamcbs]

She hasn't p

Butler was the reason why we had a convincing win over Houston last night. I really like her confidence of looking up the court without hesitation for them long home run passes.

But, can you imagine if she knows a few moves in the paint after receiving the ball? Too often, she would step out and shoot over the defender. That kind of moves to me is just a shooting yourself in the foot and decreasing the probability of scoring.

I would love to see her develop some pivot moves, ducks, fakes whatever you do to get the defender to jump and or committing foul, then use all that 6 foot 5 frame toward the basket and kiss it off back board.
Man! if she can do that, we will have another Tuck, and that will be unbeatable.

She hasn't played in a competitive game in a year an a half, she's played a total of about 30 minutes and you can evaluate her game from that? Let's let her get some game action in before saying what she can and can't do and what she needs to do better.

 

[Baroloboy]

She hasn't p

She hasn't played in a competitive game in a year an a half, she's played a total of about 30 minutes and you can evaluate her game from that? Let's let her get some game action in before saying what she can and can't do and what she needs to do better.

 

[Baroloboy]

Agree. Shows promising signs but the jury is still out. Too early to compare with Steph who had very high BBIQ and did so many things that didn't show up in the stat sheet---especially making big plays again and again in crunch time.