Chase Stigall. Credit Deserved.

Since this has been a recurring topic of conversation I felt it deserved its own blog post.  Chase Stigall may not be the best three point shooter, but he is a very good defender who contributed immensely to the 2011 NCAA Runner Bulldogs' team.  While I agree that he should be shooting at least 35% from the 3 point line if healthy this season, it is not necessary for one to go on the Butler forum and undermine everything he has meant to this program the past four years.

I believe people are so critical of Chase's 3 point shooting because of the great outside shooters the Bulldogs have had in the past decade: Shelvin Mack, A.J. Graves, Pete Campbell, Bruce Horan, Zach Hahn, Darnell Archey, Matt Howard as a Senior, and I could go on.  So Chase may not be the 3 point shooter that those guys are.  But I believe he is a better defender than every single player I listed, and defense is what wins games and championships more than offense.

Will Chase Stigall start this upcoming season?  Maybe not.
Will he get minutes and contribute defensively?  Absolutely.
Will he have more open looks with the attention drawn to Rotnei Clarke and others?  Yes.
Will he shoot a better % if his wrist is healed? More than likely.

Please just give credit to this guy for all that he has meant to the Butler program for four years, and don't just zero in on his 30% career 3 point percentage.


Completely unrelated side note: Ralph Reiff will no longer do color commentary for Butler games on MyIndy-TV.  He is focusing on his position as executive director of St. Vincent's Sports Performance.

Xavier Guard Wells Dismissed

While this is not directly about the Butler Bulldogs, Xavier Sophomore Point Guard Dezmine Wells has been expelled from the University.  Butler now has a much greater chance to win the two Xavier games on their schedule.  As I mentioned a couple of months ago, Xavier was already losing 4/5 of their starting lineup in Tu Holloway, Mark Lyons, Kenny Frease, and Andre Walker.  Now their entire starting five is gone.  What this means for Butler is that two of their non-conference games will be played against teams who lost their entire starting 5.  (Vanderbilt is the other)  While Butler was already considered the favorite in the games against Xavier, they will now be heavy favorites against a team that is in 100% rebuilding mode.

To read more about Xavier's outlook without Wells, read this ESPN blog written by Dana O'Neil:
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/62817/with-no-wells-can-xavier-find-the-magic

To discuss the Dez Wells Situation on the Bulldogs' message board click here.

Schedule Update... One More Game to Go

As per the latest IndyStar Butler Basketball blog, Butler will play Division III Hanover in a regular season game on Tuesday, November 27 at Hinkle Fieldhouse.  Normally, Butler would not be allowed to schedule this game as a Member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, but since they had such a small amount of time to get three extra games scheduled (2 conference games, BracketBuster), they were given a waiver by the A-10 to allow this game to be played.  Also in David Woods' article is the dates for the home games vs. Evansville and Ball State, which are December 22 and December 1 respectively.  Butler will be playing one more home game against an opponent to be determined, but the date will be some time between Saturday 12/15 and Saturday 12/22.

Here is a breakdown of Butler's Schedule for 2012-13:

4 Neutral Site Games
3 Road Games
9 Home Games

This could mean quite a few road games next season.

It's Official. Gameday.

ESPN College Gameday will be at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday, January 19 for the Butler vs. Gonzaga Game.  Coverage times are 10 am and 8 pm on ESPN.