Game Thread: Butler at Penn State (11/14)

I don't like the double side pony tail look for Taylor.

 

He was our highest usage player and had a bad o rating despite going 8/8 from the stripe. He also missed/was late on several defensive assignments.

 

With Taylor's shot struggling, but being money from the line, you wonder if Thad and the staff will insert some plays to either post him up or get him slashing to the bucket. Get Taylor on the line.

 

You may be right, but I still think he is hesitant to shoot the 3. Waiting allows what causes fairly open looks to turn into contested looks. Passing up open looks to drive into traffic. The kid was on the all big east freshman team.

 

Was coming to say the same. Behind Simas, he’s the player I most want to see on the line. Kid can slash—get him there. Which leads to a beef of mine—the only player since Matt Howard I consistently see sealing the lanes (both layups and rebounds) is JMM. Lost art?

 

Wasn’t Fowler pretty good that that?


Sent from my iPhone, so it’s probably not written all that well

 

Gotta support what’s on the court now and hopefully enjoy the development. Expectations for a full roster soon, let alone performing cohesively from the get go, will be a letdown.

 

True, Fowler did that too but maybe not as frequently.

 

The ball movement seems better when PT is on the court, at least through these first 4 games. He only had credit for 1 steal but was very active defensively and on the boards.
JMO

 

Shhhh, we can't be giving Fowler credit for anything around here. But yes, he was pretty good at that.

Anyway, these next two games should give them an opportunity to work on some stuff heading into Atlantis.

 

Grotesquely underrated and I will forever die on that hill.

 

He hasn't had great success in the pros but I would love Jayden to take an Isaac Okoro approach to his game. Just become a really vicious defender and constantly attack the rim. The perimeter shot doesn't look good and I don't think the "he was a good shooter in HS" argument is very convincing. To me, that just means he was a good shooter two years ago against worse competition. The most recent sample is below average. This may be who he is at this level. Which is fine so long as he adjusts appropriately.

 

Chipping paint off the rims is never a good thing. But, if the rims were 6” bigger in diameter… nah, we still would have lost.


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I hope you’re right about the next two games although it seems like there have been a high number of games in the early season in which low majors have beaten high majors.


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Normally good free throw shooters are good shooters period. Conversely bad free throw shooters are just the opposite. I’m with you Jared. This will even out. Looking back last night I wonder if Eric Hunter was a bit ramped up playing against a former BIG school?

We played well last night considering four bigs are out . We committed only five turnovers and shot well from within the arc including free throws.

 

I've been pleasantly surprised with his minutes, and it's manifesting in his stats. He's playing a great energy, semi-glue guy role. His defensive is solid (four steals in two games, stays with his man), he's the best rebounder on the team outside of Bates, and he's hasn't been forcing on offense (at least not as much as some of the other guards/wings).

Obviously he has a ways to go on offense, but he's worth his minutes nonetheless. Heck, he hit a three last night! I'm very interested to see how he progresses during the season given his off-the-charts athleticism. He already looks immensely improved from the little we saw of him last season. More minutes plus tutelage under Thad should, hopefully, continue his upward trajectory.

 

The combination of Simas, Taylor, Harris and Hunter were a combined 13-59 from the field for the PSU game. That is 18%. You cannot win a game with the majority of your perimeter players shooting 18%.

Was that PSU defense, poor Butler shot selection or poor Butler execution is TBD. But the end result is simple, you will not win basketball games, regardless of how well you limit turnovers or play sound defense, if your major contributors at the perimeter shoot 18% for the game.

I don't see those four players combining for an 18% production rate too often going forward. I see reversion to the mean.