Butler Bulldogs (16-2) at La Salle Explorers (12-5) - 1/23

Chase hit some big shots last Saturday. The entire team had trouble handling the ball tonight especially Barlow which has been unusual. At least the loss wasn't as bad as Dukes.

 

Yeah, I'm probably Chase's biggest critic, but in the big games (UNC, IU, GU) he has made shots...although he has statistically gotten worse over his college career (now at 27% 3PT). They really just let it get away from them...look at that last possession...how do you let a guy get all the way to the rim?

Now, can someone please tell me why Jackson Aldridge plays instead of Devontae Morgan picking up garbage minutes?

 

Totally agree on that last possession. Chase wasn't the reason for this loss. It was a team effort. LaSalle had 11 steals! Our offensive movement was flat and passing was sloppy. Smith was almost absent for nearly 3/4 of the game. I too don't understand why Morgan doesn't get more minutes.

 

LaSalle was really smart going isolation with their guards tonite. Those guys are all Philadelphia ballers and tough. We had way too many problems with their defensive pressure. How many turnovers did we have in the first half that they converted into baskets? They ended up getting 71 shots to our 55 and only beat us by one. Our defense was good enough but our offense just couldn't get it done tonite. Rot will change that though when he gets back. Bright side, we go 3-1 with him out.

Some concerns though. Our overall team ball handling. I think that has to get better if we want to go far this year. I also think Khyle has to bring more. He played 24 minutes tonite, but only scored 4 and had 3 boards. Outside of Smith, Dunham and Rosie we didn't get any offensive help from any one else. Marshall is too good to be that unproductive. We have to get him involved more.

 

The team looked awful for the most part tonight, but played without it's leading scorer, on the road as an "underdog", and had the lead with 7 seconds left. You can't ask for much more than that.

If there's anything to be frustrated about, it should be the lack of focus the last 7 seconds. There is no way they should allow the player to drive the length of the court and get a layup.

 

Didn't LaSalle go the length of the floor in about 3-4 seconds and score over Smith who had just made a basket at the other end? If that is true why didn't anyone else get back on defense? Love to see that last play again.

 

Didn't see the game naturally, but since we had fouls to give, why didn't anyone foul so that we could set up our defense. I know hindsight is 20/20 but given that Smith just made a shot, I'd think you'd want to foul and allow him to get into position.

 

We didn't have fouls to give. LaSalle missed the frontend of a 1-and-1 on the possession before Smith's go-ahead basket. However, once the LaSalle player made it all of the way to the basket, I would have still rather they fouled and at least made him earn it from the line under pressure.

 

Oh yeah, that's right. It was hard to follow at the end listening to the audio feed and trying to get my daughter into her bath.

I will say one thing though. The main difference between this team, so far, and the b2b teams is defense. in 2010-11, I wanted us up one and them going for the last shot. This year, like Gonzaga, I want us to hit a buzzer beater.

All that said, going 3-1 without Rot is impressive. The team has gotten better, but it hasn't played its best ball yet. Still plenty of room for this team to hit its ceiling come March.

 

I don't think anyone expected the Dawgs to win three of four without Clarke. Hopefully he is back on Saturday.

 

Nothing to be upset about here. 1 pt loss on the road against an RPI top 50 team, playing without our best player. La Salle is legit.

Dunham played great, should have got the ball more in the second half. Jones played great. Happy we get to watch those two play together for two more years.

Honestly, Clarke going down for a few games may ultimately the best thing that could have happened to Butler. Look how Dunham has been forced to evolve offensively. That probably doesn't happen with Clarke launching 30% of the teams shots. If Jones and Dunham continue to play like this when Clarke is back, we could see some special things.

Won't lose any sleep tonight. This was as good of a loss as you can ask for.

 

Aldridge and Stigall both did a poor job of handling the pressure last night. Everyone had turnovers, but they just looked completely overwhelmed by it.

I'm not really surprised Chase didn't hit any shots last night. I don't know what the deal is, but it's like he only hits shots in big games. Of his 10 made threes so far this season, he has shot 6-12 against IU, UNC and Gonzaga. The rest of the season he has shot 4 - 27 from deep (14.8%). That is quite unusual.

I feel like Morgan should be getting actual meaningful PT, but I wonder if he hasn't been able to get past Smeathers or Aldridge on the depth chart if he really ever will.

Saturday's a really big game for Butler. Need to get this one to hold serve at home.

 

The best thing about a La Salle? They can expose weaknesses even as they expose their own. The game moves too fast for Aldridge. He did some decent work but just a step slow and kaboom, 2pts the other way. Chase doesn't have the handle, needs space. Marshall is not fundamentally sound enough to thrive in a swarm of little guys. Barlow showed his limitations, love the guy but don't expect a lot more from him. Smith, as good as he is. could stand to be more aggressive. And yes, he is light years ahead of where he was. I believe last night should have had him at the line for at least ten shots. Dunham and Rosie are evolving with each game. That is my bright spot in the whole muddle of last night.

 

LaSalle's athletic guards may turn out to be a good experience to prepare us for VCU.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about Morgan. I have a feeling come Tourney time Brad will pull him off the bench unexpectingly and he'll deliver...a la Hopkins vs. Florida in the SE Regional. Patience young grasshopper!

 

Last night was a debacle, which almost makes me feel better about the loss. The whole team just looked a step slow and nowhere near the intensity level they have brought to other big games this season. They looked much more like the UNO or Penn games vs. anything else we've seen this season. Not sure why, but I suppose a complete hiccup like this was happening at some point. Better it be now I guess.

One question-Does anyone have any faith that Aldridge will amount to anything? He just looks way too uncertain and slow for this level of hoops. I'm sure he could do ok at another level, but hopefully his minutes are limited from here on out, because he's becoming a liability.

To the Chase point, he has been huge when needed this year. Stepped up against the best. For some reason other than that he disappears and just plays terribly. It is quite fascinating to think about. The kid balls against top competition but otherwise is awful. I don't get it. But I'll take his huge moments this year. We've needed each one.

 

Totally agree with you on Aldridge. Does he honestly have opportunities to play pro in Australia? He's just a step slow on D at this level. I feel like I'm constantly watching him get beat by his man and end up flat-footed. Plus, he doesn't seem to be able to handle the on-ball pressure from opposing defenses. If you're a point guard you've got to at least be able to handle the ball.

I felt like Fromm looked lost during his freshman year, but got better every year and looks comfortable now. I guess we're all hoping Aldridge will do the same, but I'm just not seeing it yet.

 

The ball handling is what is most concerning to me. Not sure why he was brought in to be a PG because any type of on ball pressure and he just forgets how to protect the ball. And just watching his handles in general, it's nowhere near the level a PG should have at this level. I mean Jesus Christ we're a top 15 D 1 hoops team, we can't have a ball handler like that getting minutes.

 

Not at this point. His offensive efficiency rating is 65.6. Stigall's is 77.7 (remember anything above 100 is considered "good"). 1/3rd of the possessions he uses up end in turnovers. For someone who's not a shooter, this simply isn't good enough. If he were a good defender like Barlow or even a solid one like Stigall (their turnover rates per possession are 36.8% and 31.3% respectively), then it might be a little easier to stomach, but he's not.

Seems like a nice kid and everything, but I'm just not sure what he brings that Smeathers or Morgan can't.[hr]
This issue of not having a real point guard is going to rear its ugly head every once in awhile, especially when Butler plays teams that want to pressure the ball.

La Salle had at least 3 guys that could break down the defense on their own last night. Save for Jones and perhaps Clarke every once in awhile, Butler does not have that guy.

 

6'4" an 227, go figure, that man is the only point guard we have. Nobody can stay in front of him and he can go either left or right on any man. Castro must be the real deal next year. If Rosie didn't have to carry the load every night against the other team's star player, we could use him as the primary point guard. Last night forced him to do too much. His body wore down.