Butler post game thread

[ValleyGuy]

He asked how hard it is for a coach to be concise in the huddle (as Hurley was). That's a completely different question.

Yea and rafterys response was the same as mine. What kind of question is that.

Then he proceeded to cut raftery off as he answered the dumb question.

 

[El Obrero]

Agree big-time with the “Sheeesh, give Butler some credit, will ya?” crowd.
Thad Motta is a hell of a good coach.
It’s what makes this rampage through the BE that we’re currently on all the more impressive. With few exceptions, this conference is a freaking gauntlet of excellent coaches who almost never fail to have their teams ready to rumble. And I really, really hope not to see any of them in UConn’s bracket in the NCAA tournament. That would make me nervous.

 

[John]

It looked and sounded completely dead on TV. Hope it was better in the building.

You catch the part on TV where the XL music people love to play the loud songs when Big Red is doing the cheer? Happened twice last night.

 

[Kemba'sYogurt]

AFFECTS the game. Otherwise I really like your post!

Man, I couldn’t figure out which one to use. I had a 50/50 shot!

 

[ValleyGuy]

An 8:30 Wednesday night start vs Butler where they're favored by 15 points? What do fans expect? Not every game is going to be the greatest atmosphere of all time.

Super weird posturing by fans that want to complain about every game played in Hartford.

This is exactly the problem. Woof

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

An 8:30 Wednesday night start vs Butler where they're favored by 15 points? What do fans expect? Not every game is going to be the greatest atmosphere of all time.

Super weird posturing by fans that want to complain about every game played in Hartford.

It’s weird to expect an engaged crowd supporting the #1 team in the country in a league game in February against a good team fighting for a tourney bid? That’s depressing.

 

[nycscooby]

Just got back home. I've defended the civic center for a long time, but we should never play another game in Hartford. The students are silent there now for whatever reason. We're the number 1 team in the country and play half our games on a borderline neutral court. I know the people who don't live in the area and attend games are probably sick of the argument. However, it's gotten worse than the AAC days downtown. I can't articulate how bad it's gotten. If you've been to games this year, you know.

I understand the Hartford deal like most on this board but I would love to see up to 6 non-con games off campus with maybe 4 at XL, one at Mohegan and one at Bridgeport then all conference games at Gampel.

 

[HooperScooper]

Thought Jaydin Jaylin played well tonight, would like
to see more of him when we can go with the smaller lineup.

Freshman forward Jaylin Stewart celebrated his 19th birthday on Tuesday.

He’s played a limited but valuable role off the bench this season, averaging 2.3 points and 1.2 rebounds in just 8.9 minutes per game. He’s served mainly as a back-up to Karaban and also seen spot duty at the center spot when Hurley uses a smaller lineup.

He deserves more playing time than he’s had so far, Hurley said.

“He probably deserves 2 to 4, maybe five more minutes a game,” Hurley said. “He’s earned his place and that’s the best way to have it happen for us, not to be gifted minutes. He’s had to earn them and earn our respect and grow up and mature and get tougher. It’s not a talent issue, it’s a concentration issue, it’s a physicality issue, it’s a mental preparation issue, concentration, competitive will, those types of things. And he’s getting there.

“If he stays with it with us, he’s going to have his time where he’s a leading man here.”

 

[Chin Diesel]

They seemed bored.

This had all the buzz of a mid-February NBA game.

Best part was Raff noting all the different sets UConn runs and how well the UConn players move without the ball.

Pretty much every analyst says UConn runs a master class of offensive sets compared to other college teams. And yes it aligns with Hurley bringing Murray onboard.

 

[UCan3]

Freshman forward Jaylin Stewart celebrated his 19th birthday on Tuesday.

He’s played a limited but valuable role off the bench this season, averaging 2.3 points and 1.2 rebounds in just 8.9 minutes per game. He’s served mainly as a back-up to Karaban and also seen spot duty at the center spot when Hurley uses a smaller lineup.

He deserves more playing time than he’s had so far, Hurley said.

“He probably deserves 2 to 4, maybe five more minutes a game,” Hurley said. “He’s earned his place and that’s the best way to have it happen for us, not to be gifted minutes. He’s had to earn them and earn our respect and grow up and mature and get tougher. It’s not a talent issue, it’s a concentration issue, it’s a physicality issue, it’s a mental preparation issue, concentration, competitive will, those types of things. And he’s getting there.

“If he stays with it with us, he’s going to have his time where he’s a leading man here.”

I have been impressed by his Defense. He just needs more time on the floor to figure out how he fits in on Offense. I agree, he will have a day that comes soon where he and Solo are out there running the show.

 

[Linart]

Puzzled why Solo doesn't get more minutes. He stepped up admirably when Castle was out.

 

[dtrumpet]

I was there (and am at all XL games). The crowd was very good to start — I texted my UConn friends it was full and loouud right before tip-off — and the place was really loud for the early going and first U-C-O-N-N chant.

Then when UConn went up 35-21, the whole place — players, fans — all seemed to relax and never really got back into it the same way after Butler’s run.

There’s been a vibe at XL games like the crowd is there to see a heavyweight fighter throw his big knockout punch. When we’ve landed it, the building has been rocking. When the other team takes the punch and hangs around, the crowd has seemed more restless than anything and the late tip only added to it.

I was there too, and agree 100%. Games at XL this year have been better than in the past, especially the St Johns game. We have to credit Matta and Butler with taking the crowd out to an extent. He called TO's just when a run was approaching, then they'd come out and make a basket that took some air out of the room.

 

[navery12]

Puzzled why Solo doesn't get more minutes. He stepped up admirably when Castle was out

Minutes are a zero sum game, whose minutes do you want to cut?

 

[Rocktheworld]

I’m in Boston now and didn’t feel like making the trip for the game given the late start. Been to every other XL game and two Gampel games. Also went to UConn 08-12.

Seemed like a ghost town watching on TV outside of a few moments, as others have noted here. SJU was a decent crowd, but otherwise it’s more quiet between big moments. That’s what you get with such a pathetically small student section in a stadium that’s a 25 minute drive from campus.

I’m officially puzzled as to what the coaches are seeing that’s leading to Solo getting so few minutes. I get that he mainly played earlier in the season because Castle was hurt, and I know that he loses his man on defense from time to time; but his effort is clearly there and he has potential to score. He’s shown flashes in multiple games. I hope that now with GTown and DePaul coming up he can get some minutes and stay confident.

Newton is officially in a slump. But luckily Cam has been on fire in his absence. Cam continues to be an excellent floor manager with and without the ball, knowing where everyone will be and manipulating space to get himself or others open.

Clingan finally had a big game against a real opponent and didn’t really sniff foul trouble. The reds were letting them play, but I didn’t notice many plays where I thought that he got away with anything crazy besides maybe a couple potential over-the-back.

 

[Vancat]

Atmosphere at the game is often much different than atmosphere perceived on TV.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I’m in Boston now and didn’t feel like making the trip for the game given the late start. Been to every other XL game and two Gampel games. Also went to UConn 08-12.

Seemed like a ghost town watching on TV outside of a few moments, as others have noted here. SJU was a decent crowd, but otherwise it’s more quiet between big moments. That’s what you get with such a pathetically small student section in a stadium that’s a 25 minute drive from campus.

I’m officially puzzled as to what the coaches are seeing that’s leading to Solo getting so few minutes. I get that he mainly played earlier in the season because Castle was hurt, and I know that he loses his man on defense from time to time; but his effort is clearly there and he has potential to score. He’s shown flashes in multiple games. I hope that now with GTown and DePaul coming up he can get some minutes and stay confident.

Newton is officially in a slump. But luckily Cam has been on fire in his absence. Cam continues to be an excellent floor manager with and without the ball, knowing where everyone will be and manipulating space to get himself or others open.

Clingan finally had a big game against a real opponent and didn’t really sniff foul trouble. The reds were letting them play, but I didn’t notice many plays where I thought that he got away with anything crazy besides maybe a couple potential over-the-back.

Newton was averaging 20-8-4 in the 4 games before last night. He isn’t in a slump, he had a bad game.

 

[husky429]

Puzzled why Solo doesn't get more minutes. He stepped up admirably when Castle was out.

1) Someone else's minutes are cut if he plays more. Castle, Newton, Diarra, and Cam are all much better players.

2) He's not doing enough to warrant minutes anyways. Sitting around, swinging the ball, and taking 70% of your shots from 3 isn't basketball. He's gotta be a player if he wants to play.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

1) Someone else's minutes are cut if he plays more. Castle, Newton, Diarra, and Cam are all much better players.

2) He's not doing enough to warrant minutes anyways. Sitting around, swinging the ball, and taking 70% of your shots from 3 isn't basketball. He's gotta be a player if he wants to play.

Especially for a guy with the athletic gifts that he has.

 

[Palatine]

I understand the Hartford deal like most on this board but I would love to see up to 6 non-con games off campus with maybe 4 at XL, one at Mohegan and one at Bridgeport then all conference games at Gampel.

These decisions are driven -first- by money. Gampel 9,800+ capacity. XL 16,200 capacity. For the math challenged that is 6,400 more seats to sell at XL. Mohegan Sun is slightly smaller than Gampel at 9,300 capacity and Total Mortgage in Bridgeport seats 200 more people than Gampel.

XL is an opportunity for 6,400 fans who could not watch the game in person in Storrs. It is a location that is more accessible and convenient to most of the state's population. It actually helps build the fan base. So, basically, complaining about it is like complaining about the weather.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Newton was averaging 20-8-4 in the 4 games before last night. He isn’t in a slump, he had a bad game.

Can’t blame him for living at the line but in the last three games he’s shooting 32% overall and 10% from 3. He’s having a bit of a shooting slump. Also 13 assists and 10 TOs over that span

 

[Tenspro2002]

That's true about last year's bench vs. this year but the starting 5 is better this year. The teams are quite different. I think this is a better team, hopefully they show it in March and April.

Last year we wore teams down in the middle of halves with our subs being better than their subs.

This year's team is going to be more like the women's teams of yore where we just blitz the opposition and put them in a hole at the beginning of the game (e.g. Xavier) or the beginning of the second half (e.g. St. John's) that they then struggle to claw out of.

 

[superjohn]

It’s weird to expect an engaged crowd supporting the #1 team in the country in a league game in February against a good team fighting for a tourney bid? That’s depressing.

I also learned the start time favored the Midwest team because UConn fans bedtime is 10 pm.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Last year we wore teams down in the middle of halves with our subs being better than their subs.

This year's team is going to be more like the women's teams of yore where we just blitz the opposition and put them in a hole at the beginning of the game (e.g. Xavier) or the beginning of the second half (e.g. St. John's) that they then struggle to claw out of.

We had the luxury of having basically hockey lines to sub with limited fall off. I think it’s just different this year (and look at the results in the W/L column) with individual subs and a wider variety of lineups. I don’t remember us playing nearly as much small ball, which has seemed to be very effective for us; I would love to see if someone can play around with the KenPom stats on the small ball lineups we’ve played

 

[boog204]

Can’t blame him for living at the line but in the last three games he’s shooting 32% overall and 10% from 3. He’s having a bit of a shooting slump. Also 13 assists and 10 TOs over that span

Was just going to post the same thing... His shot selection has not been good and his shot seems much flatter than the beginning of the year. He's been living off the line which is great when it works, but he is over-penetrating seeking contact and that's not always a given.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

Only thing that kept this game close was the countless layups and easy shots we normally make with ease. Also, their point guard scored 11 points in five minutes. That kept it close too. Scary for opponents that Castle, AK and TN had off games and we still won by 11.