26 thoughts on “Butler Concludes Preseason: Press Conference

  1. This is about the perfect level of competition for a preseason game IMO. Saginaw Valley State is a great Division II team. So they are a team Butler should be able to handle easily and work on some things, but good enough that Butler can't just walk through them.  I'm excited to see how Butler looks tonight.

    Sent from my iPhone using Butler Hoops

  2. This is about the perfect level of competition for a preseason game IMO. Saginaw Valley State is a great Division II team. So they are a team Butler should be able to handle easily and work on some things, but good enough that Butler can't just walk through them.  I'm excited to see how Butler looks tonight.

    Sent from my iPhone using Butler Hoops

    Totally agree with the "Perfect level of Competition" comment.  SVSU was an Elite 8 team last year and ranked preseason. They already have an exhibition game under their belts –  a 87-77 loss to Michigan State. Pretty good showing in their first game.

  3. McDermott crashes the glass HARD. I like what I've seen from him. A long wing like that who is excellent from deep and can rebound well will find a role at some point in his career.

  4. I think McDermott is going to have a solid role this year.  His length could make him a defensive stopper off the bench, and he brings a ton of energy and spark.  His shot that he was known for has appeared yet, but if it does he's going to be nice bench weapon this season.

    Also, Baldwin's move earlier in the game where he spun and cut through the defense was impressive.  If he can make good decisions with the basketball, it's going to be hard to keep him out of the starting lineup.

  5. Wow we are offering out this o 2019!

    He's good. He played up with Scruggs and Wilkes this summer (and of course Neese). My way too early guess is he ends up in between those two. Not as good as Wilkes but better than Scruggs.

  6. The game is easy for Kelan Martin on offense. On defense; however, he is really struggling with the ball screen. He just lets himself be screened. I'm hoping it's just hard for him to get up defensively for this type of game on D, but if I was a coach and saw this during the season I would be running him through ball screens all night long.

  7. Gosh I hope McDermott doesn't transfer to a Mid Major.

    It will be interesting to see how he plays when he is up against Big East athletes. I loved the way he played today. It's a shame he only grabbed 1 board, because he deserved about 6 or 7.

    Sent from my iPhone using Butler Hoops

  8. McDermott is going to play a lot this year…definitely in the rotation, and I could easily see him getting 12 minutes a game.   Part of that is because I can't see Baddley playing at all.  Baddley looks like he might be the most athletic player we've ever had at Butler.  I hope that he can develop a good shot and really learn the system.  Based on nothing except the two exhibitions, I'd love to see him redshirt were it not for the guard and wing heavy class coming in next year.

    I also thought that both Fowler and Brunk looked comfortable out there.  I can't wait to see them play against real competition.

    Also really impressed with the crowd for an exhibition…this is going to be an exciting year.

  9. McDermott is going to play a lot this year…definitely in the rotation, and I could easily see him getting 12 minutes a game.   Part of that is because I can't see Baddley playing at all.  Baddley looks like he might be the most athletic player we've ever had at Butler.  I hope that he can develop a good shot and really learn the system.  Based on nothing except the two exhibitions, I'd love to see him redshirt were it not for the guard and wing heavy class coming in next year.

    I also thought that both Fowler and Brunk looked comfortable out there.  I can't wait to see them play against real competition.

    Also really impressed with the crowd for an exhibition…this is going to be an exciting year.

    Agreed except for Brunk and Fowler.  In my opinion, both still have a ways to go.  I love Brunk's activity in the post and on the glass, but he's still definitely raw.  Lots of potential though.

    For Fowler, I see him having a bit of role until Brunk starts putting the pieces together, but he just hasn't looked that coordinated to me in the exhibition games.  A lot of it probably is due to the foot injury, but he seems like the least fluid athlete on the team.  He's got size, but I don't see the same potential that Brunk brings to the table.

  10. McDermott is going to play a lot this year…definitely in the rotation, and I could easily see him getting 12 minutes a game.

    I agree. I've been pleasantly surprised with him; I wasn't sure what to expect with him coming off a redshirt year. But he's definitely long, athletic, and is very aggressive on D. He was also really stroking it from 3 in the second half tonight.

    Sent from my iPhone using Butler Hoops

  11. There was a very large stretch during the first half when the Dawgs started dribbling the air out of the rock and were playing Hero Ball again.  The offense was very stagnant during the last 10 minutes of the first half.  I was glad to see that it was corrected during the second half.  McD got his shooting touch back in todays game, while Martin had another quiet 15 points.  Once again, he didn't need the ball in his hands the entire time to score his points.

  12. Kind of surprised to hear Holtmann state in his post game comments that we are not as explosive offensively this year as year we were last year, so we need to play better defense.   Obviously, playing better defense is a given based on last year's performance.   But offensively I think we have more options and we are so much deeper than last year with the potential of a lot of points coming off the bench.   Not so last year.   I like the potential of this offense.   I don't think scoring is going to be an issue for the most part.   Holtmann is correct….how good this team is and how far they go will be determined on the defensive end.   And while we still really haven't played anyone yet, it still looks like a work in progress on that end of the floor.

  13. Being at both exhibition games and watching both opponents warm up, I thought for sure that this game was going to be a lot closer, especially against a team that lost by only 7 to Michigan State. SVSU actually looked like a mid major Div 1 team in person and they are well coached and aggressive on offense so this was a good test and hats off to Holt for scheduling it. That being said, I was totally impressed with Butler's defensive effort. Of course, there's always room for improvement but the intensity that all the players showed for 40 min was great and keeping an offensive minded team like SVSU to 50 points (better than Wabash) speaks for itself. On the flip side, I also echo what many have said that Butler is a lot deeper offensively as well- even while Holt was trying trying what seemed like ten different combinations on the floor, there was always someone who could get a bucket. I hope this team can continue this defensive journey while recalibrating the obviously deeper offense based on all the new players- its going to be a fun season for sure.

    Go Dawgs!

  14. I agree. I've been pleasantly surprised with him; I wasn't sure what to expect with him coming off a redshirt year. But he's definitely long, athletic, and is very aggressive on D. He was also really stroking it from 3 in the second half tonight.

    Sent from my iPhone using Butler Hoops

    We'be got four years of McDermott too. He just desperately needs to bulk up. Dude is still a twig.

    I'm looking forward to his career. I really think he can be "good Etherington" 2.0 for this program. I just don't see him being as good offensively as Dunham was (I'd love to be wrong though).

  15. I agree. I've been pleasantly surprised with him; I wasn't sure what to expect with him coming off a redshirt year. But he's definitely long, athletic, and is very aggressive on D. He was also really stroking it from 3 in the second half tonight.

    Sent from my iPhone using Butler Hoops

    We've got four years of McDermott too. He just desperately needs to bulk up. Dude is still a twig.

    I'm looking forward to his career. I really think he can be "good Etherington" 2.0 for this program. I just don't see him being as good offensively as Dunham was (I'd love to be wrong though).

  16. We've got four years of McDermott too. He just desperately needs to bulk up. Dude is still a twig.

    I'm looking forward to his career. I really think he can be "good Etherington" 2.0 for this program. I just don't see him being as good offensively as Dunham was (I'd love to be wrong though).

    Asking him to deliver offensively like Dunham is a tall order considering Kellen was one of the most prolific scorers Butler's ever had (but what a bonus if he could get close!).  Sean being a longer, more athletic Etherington this season would exceed all of our expectations heading into this season.  To your point as well, he's still just a freshman.  Definitely needs to try to bulk up as much as he can, but his length and athleticism gives him a lot of potential.

    Quickly regarding our guard depth, I don't remember a team with so many players who can score in a variety of ways.  Over the past two games, we saw Kelan, Woodson, and Lewis get to the rim, hit mid-range at the elbow, and from three.   Savage and Baldwin haven't made any threes, but have shown the ability slash and hit the mid-range jumper.  Chrabz gives us offense in the post and the occasional three as well.    That's six players who can create their own shots in different ways (Lewis might be a stretch due to his size, but his aggressiveness and confidence shooting the ball tonight could go a long way).  Throw in Wideman for second chance points and McDermott for spot minute threes and you've got as solid a group of offensive weapons as we've seen in a while.  This is huge because even if teams key on Martin, at least six other players have the ability to pick up the scoring slack.

  17. It looks like Baldwin will pick up some minutes at the point, which is great but he'll need to work on his ball handling. Otherwise, Big East defenders will pick him apart while trying to set up the offense. He's a weapon though, that's for sure.

    A little disappointed in Fowler/Brunk. For being near 7 feet, they need to show dominance down low. On more than one occasion they were forced out of the post and shot a fading hook away from the basket. Especially since these were div II defenders, it did not look good.

    My biggest surprises have been Woodson and McDermott as well.

    Chrab's footwork is beautiful. His hook has really improved too. Hoping he's just more consistent this year

    D needs some work but I felt it was mostly rotation issues so hopefully it gets ironed out here before thanksgiving and teammates talk more.

    Sent from my iPhone using Butler Hoops

  18. I like everything I have seen in McDermott. He handles the ball extremely well, is athletic, he moves well laterally, he appears solid defensively, beautiful stroke and range, great attitude and effort- doesn't take plays off.  He has skills neither Dunham or Etherington had and he has 4 years left. Obviously on the light side but he will be the sixth or seventh man off the bench.

    I like Baldwin a lot.  He needs to work on his ball handling before he can be an effective pg.

    Brunnk and Fowler are works in progress.

Leave a Reply