Butler Game Thread

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ras

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Re: Butler Game Thread
« Reply #140 on: January 25, 2014, 10:53:45 PM »
Branch did a great job at the point. IMO he should be the starter at  that position w Sheed and Dlo in a 3 guard lineup. Very nice win. Butler played just about everyone of their games close,they just had bad luck or would have a better record. Gift gives it all he has and played a good game as opposed to CO.We moved the ball much better and played like a team.

Re: Butler Game Thread
« Reply #141 on: January 25, 2014, 10:55:17 PM »
Carmine you watch all the games like most of us who post regularly do.  The offense and ball movement today was a million times better.

Poison

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Re: Butler Game Thread
« Reply #142 on: January 25, 2014, 10:58:21 PM »
Carmine you watch all the games like most of us who post regularly do.  The offense and ball movement today was a million times better.

Exactly. Greene lulls everyone to sleep.

desco80

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Re: Butler Game Thread
« Reply #143 on: January 25, 2014, 11:07:33 PM »
Nice win.   Say what you want about it being just 1 game, and Butler not being great, but there were times today when we played some pretty good basketball.
This was just a good win.  Not perfect, but everyone played solid and efficient basketball.  There's not a lot to dislike about a game like this.

Real happy for the guys.   Maybe things are coming together. 
But, for the life of me I can't understand why it took coach until now to start giving Branch big minutes, and playing him with Rysheed and D'angelo.   That seemed like an obvious move to a lot of us even in November. 

In fairness, early on the Branch - Jordan suffered from role uncertainty...didn't seem like either was sure who should be running point...as the season has gone on, it is apparent that Jordan can play off ball so Branch can assume the point role...worked great today...

There's some truth to that .   And also Branch has made his share of mistakes, but overall you've gotta live with him.   The 3 guard lineup is pretty effective, and certainly if Jordan is on the bench Branch has to be out there.

Obekpa's play seems to be going in the opposite direction however.
I don't know what happened on that foul and then the exchange between him and Orlando but it was almost as if CO was blaming Sanchez long after the play ended.   Looked that way on tv

Re: Butler Game Thread
« Reply #144 on: January 25, 2014, 11:10:13 PM »
Nice win.   Say what you want about it being just 1 game, and Butler not being great, but there were times today when we played some pretty good basketball.
This was just a good win.  Not perfect, but everyone played solid and efficient basketball.  There's not a lot to dislike about a game like this.

Real happy for the guys.   Maybe things are coming together. 
But, for the life of me I can't understand why it took coach until now to start giving Branch big minutes, and playing him with Rysheed and D'angelo.   That seemed like an obvious move to a lot of us even in November. 
I am curious, not criticizing this post, but how many perfect wins does ANY team have in a year?

Re: Butler Game Thread
« Reply #145 on: January 25, 2014, 11:13:05 PM »
Obekpa's play seems to be going in the opposite direction however.
I don't know what happened on that foul and then the exchange between him and Orlando but it was almost as if CO was blaming Sanchez long after the play ended.   Looked that way on tv

I thought the exact same thing. And I do not like that attitude, he is definitely frustrated right now and isn't handling it well. I think Lavin would have done him a favor and let him play the last 4 minutes today when the game was more or less in hand, and hopefully giving the kid a little confidence boost.

desco80

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Re: Butler Game Thread
« Reply #146 on: January 25, 2014, 11:34:00 PM »
Nice win.   Say what you want about it being just 1 game, and Butler not being great, but there were times today when we played some pretty good basketball.
This was just a good win.  Not perfect, but everyone played solid and efficient basketball.  There's not a lot to dislike about a game like this.

Real happy for the guys.   Maybe things are coming together. 
But, for the life of me I can't understand why it took coach until now to start giving Branch big minutes, and playing him with Rysheed and D'angelo.   That seemed like an obvious move to a lot of us even in November. 
I am curious, not criticizing this post, but how many perfect wins does ANY team have in a year?

I didn't mean to compare it to a literally perfect performance, just that I think we played well, but we can play better.  This wasn't our A game I guess is what I meant. 

But by no means am I complaining.   This game leaves fans with a much better feeling than a week ago
« Last Edit: January 25, 2014, 11:35:44 PM by desco80 »

Re: Butler Game Thread
« Reply #147 on: January 26, 2014, 12:02:20 AM »
Why is everyone going gaga over the offense today?  We scored 69 points.  Against the Hall 77;  Providence 67; DePaul 75; and Villanova 67.  Plus we had a season/almost impossibly low 5 free throws total.

Logic dictates that the defense and rebounding should be getting most of the praise in this effort.

Branch and Rysheed distributed well
Jakarr hit open jumpers all game
Every time the double team came, guys found the open man
Not our highest scoring output but we had a big lead and took the air out of the ball the last five minutes.  Otherwise, we coulh have scored 80+.

Re: Butler Game Thread
« Reply #148 on: January 26, 2014, 12:11:39 AM »
Best ball movement on O this season. Last 2 games Lavin seems to have taken the advice of many posters, Pressing more causing turnovers, attacking the rim, running a little more, shortening rotation, playing Sheed and Branch more, not doing anything CRAZY. Members of the board take a bow. Maybe Lavin should replace his staff with some of us, because we wouldn't have waited until late Jan. to make these changes.  :)
« Last Edit: January 26, 2014, 01:26:57 AM by Celtics11 »

Re: Butler Game Thread
« Reply #149 on: January 26, 2014, 01:36:57 AM »
Carmine you watch all the games like most of us who post regularly do.  The offense and ball movement today was a million times better.

Than why did we score no more points than we usually do?  In fact: regulation scoring average last four 71.5...last night 69????

So if the offense flowed and we got more open looks and points in the paint and we had a point who was running something and we had the best ball movement all season...shouldn't we have...you know...scored more points???
« Last Edit: January 26, 2014, 01:38:17 AM by carmineabbatiello »

SJUFAN

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Re: Butler Game Thread
« Reply #150 on: January 26, 2014, 02:43:06 AM »
Carmine you watch all the games like most of us who post regularly do.  The offense and ball movement today was a million times better.

Than why did we score no more points than we usually do?  In fact: regulation scoring average last four 71.5...last night 69????

So if the offense flowed and we got more open looks and points in the paint and we had a point who was running something and we had the best ball movement all season...shouldn't we have...you know...scored more points???

Not necessarily. It's not what you score but how you score. Butler slowed it down and did a good job taking away our fast break opportunities, which on most nights we are heavily reliant upon. We didn't score as much fast break points as we usually do, most of our scoring came out of the half court set. So because we were able to execute our half court offense, it compensated for our lack of fast break points.

Re: Butler Game Thread
« Reply #151 on: January 26, 2014, 02:56:49 AM »
Carmine you watch all the games like most of us who post regularly do.  The offense and ball movement today was a million times better.

Than why did we score no more points than we usually do?  In fact: regulation scoring average last four 71.5...last night 69????

So if the offense flowed and we got more open looks and points in the paint and we had a point who was running something and we had the best ball movement all season...shouldn't we have...you know...scored more points???

We shot 52 percent. We average 44 for the season.

Re: Butler Game Thread
« Reply #152 on: January 26, 2014, 07:04:56 AM »
Carmine you watch all the games like most of us who post regularly do.  The offense and ball movement today was a million times better.

Than why did we score no more points than we usually do?  In fact: regulation scoring average last four 71.5...last night 69????

So if the offense flowed and we got more open looks and points in the paint and we had a point who was running something and we had the best ball movement all season...shouldn't we have...you know...scored more points???

The answer is that we played significantly fewer possessions than we do on average, probably a result of killing clock for the last quarter of the game. It is this reason why tempo-adjusted metrics are considered to be better measurements of production than absolute numbers for comparative analyses. Our points-per-possession in yesterday's game was easily our best in conference play.

Re: Butler Game Thread
« Reply #153 on: January 26, 2014, 09:02:20 AM »
Opportunity knocked on Branch and he delivered. Hope to get more in the future.

Also thought Lavin did a good job of rotation and TO management tonight. When Hooper checked in, they ran a play for him and countered Butler's over aggression on D which led to Hooper 3.

Mixed up Obekpa and Sanchez well and did a good job of giving starters short rests.

Good win in tough environment.
It was a good game plan (Whitesell?) and a well-coached (Lavin) victory. I was wondering if Lavin had it in him.


Re: Butler Game Thread
« Reply #154 on: January 26, 2014, 09:31:39 AM »
Solid win, you have to like a road win in a tough venue. I think we clearly smothered Butler on defense with our length and athleticism. Not going to get too giddy because Butler was a good match-up for us.

I'll start believing in this team again based on what I see at Creighton. A lot more work to do.

TONYD3

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Re: Butler Game Thread
« Reply #155 on: January 26, 2014, 09:32:48 AM »
This is not a knock on Phil.  He has a definite role on this team and seems like a great kid.  But his stomach illness may have been a blessing in disguise.  We have been calling for Branch to play with Sheed and D-Lo all year.  Look at what freaking happened today.  The ball movement, passing, having multiple guys who can create shots for themselves or others.  If our starting lineup against Creighton isn't those three plus Sanchez and Sampson, then I honestly don't know what the hell our staff is looking at.  Spell those guys in spurts with Dom, Chris, Gift and Phil (and occasionally Hooper, especially if we get zoned).

Butler isn't a great team by any stretch.  But Hinkle is a difficult place to play, and Butler has beaten and/or played tough against other good teams this year in that venue.
Agree. With Phil out we always had a pg in.

paultzman

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Re: Butler Game Thread
« Reply #156 on: January 26, 2014, 10:02:06 AM »
@JonRothstein: A big reason for St. John's two-game BE winning streak? Expanded minutes for Jamal Branch. 8 assists, 0 TOs yesterday vs. Butler. #sjubb

Will Lav get it?

nudginator59

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Re: Butler Game Thread
« Reply #157 on: January 26, 2014, 10:06:46 AM »
Can somebody explan the rapid reaction on ESPN. It seems it almost appears after an SJU loss or barely scraping by with a win. When we beat somebody solid it does not appear am I just being paranoid?
Cougar O' Malley

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Re: Butler Game Thread
« Reply #158 on: January 26, 2014, 10:52:12 AM »
Pressing more causing turnovers

We pressed full court three times. Outcome: Butler jam, Butler lay in, Butler lay in. Then we stopped, thankfully.

Re: Butler Game Thread
« Reply #159 on: January 26, 2014, 10:53:18 AM »
Can somebody explan the rapid reaction on ESPN. It seems it almost appears after an SJU loss or barely scraping by with a win. When we beat somebody solid it does not appear am I just being paranoid?

Additionally, local NYC news coverage seemed to be limited to AP