Butler struggles on free throws, threes, and falls again to Saint Louis

I understand can understand it when Roosevelt Jones goes 7-11 from the free throw line.  However, Erik Fromm cannot badly miss a one-and-one, and Kam Woods cannot go 0-4 from the free throw line.  I will not emphasize free throw shooting too much, since Saint Louis was worse than Butler, but it is very hard to make a comeback when you are missing crucial free throws.  It would also have been nice to see Butler's bigs, mainly Fromm and Smith, to hit a couple of threes, which they have struggled to do lately.  Last year, they were around 35% from three, and this year it is down to about 30%.  Chase Stigall and Kellen Dunham took some questionable three point shots early in the shot clock, and I do not feel Butler fed Andrew Smith in the post as much as they should (although some credit goes to the defense of Saint Louis' Cody Ellis and Rob Loe).  One or two more threes is the difference between winning and losing this game, and Butler came out on the wrong end.

With as much that went wrong on offense, defense, especially, in the second half was the true problem.  It was Jordair Jett and Dwayne Evans in the first half, and Mike McCall and Kwamain Mitchell in the second half.  Butler consistently allowed guards Jett, McCall, and Mitchell to penetrate the lane at will with little resistance or weak side help from Butler's bigs.   While Roosevelt Jones was often guarding Evans on the post, his size disadvantage showed, as Evans was able to turn over his shoulder for a mid range jump shot that he either made or got fouled on.

With three difficult games remaining, the Bulldogs will have to play well to get a single digit seed in the NCAA tournament, to increase their chances of advancing.  This difficult road continues as Butler faces #24 VCU next Saturday.  The Bulldogs have eight days to improve their defense, shot selection, and free throw shooting, the three things I believe were the most troublesome in this tough loss to Saint Louis.

Butler survives late comeback, defeats Fordham

Butler's Rotnei Clarke (15) leads the Bulldogs into the frontcourt on offense in the second half.


I never thought I would say this: "Kellen Dunham free throw shooting is the reason the Bulldogs lost."  I almost had to say that today, but luckily I did not.  Rotnei Clarke lead all scorers with 22 points, albeit somewhat inefficient, and Roosevelt Jones was tough in the paint and on the glass with 13 points and 8 rebounds, as Butler defeated Fordham 68-63.  Andrew Smith returned from injury, but wasn't very sharp on the offensive end missing makeable layups, jump hooks, and tip-ins.  Yet he made all of his free throws to be able to reach his scoring average and score 12 points.  Kam Woods really impressed me on in a game where none of Butler's other bigs did.  With Khyle Marshall out for most of this game with injury and foul trouble, Woods used his long arms to grab rebounds, as he had 10 rebounds to go with 7 points.  Something I noticed about Erik Fromm is that he has completely lost confidence in his three point shot, passing up many open looks after the ball was reversed to him at the top of the key.  Maybe he should spend less time talking to Chase Stigall, who incidentally missed his only 3 point attempt in three minutes of action.

For Fordham, I was quite impressed with forward Chris Gaston who had been injured for about a month, and scored 21 points in his first game back.  None of Butler's four big men could consistently stop Gaston who scored in a variety of ways, including jump shots and strong post moves.  I was also impressed with burly forward Travion Leonard's ability to hit mid range jump shots, where he constantly burned the Bulldogs.  Branden Frazier continued his lengthy shoot slump, as Butler held him 1 of 9 shooting.

I was quite impressed with the Fordham fan base, quite loud and enthusastic, although there were a decent amount of Butler fans also at the game.  This was the first time in a while that I had attended a Butler game in person, and while the Bulldogs didn't play to their full potential, they were able to win a close and entertaining game.

Smith cleared to play as Butler faces Fordham

I wanted to save this blog until I knew for sure whether or not Smith was playing, but it turns out that after being cleared for practice yesterday, he will be able to play for the Bulldogs today.  On the other hand, Fordham could get Chris Gaston back, who was a dynamic scorer his first three years as a Ram but has struggled with a knee injury this season.  A big factor in this game is which team's star big men do better in their return from injury, but I would expect it to be Smith since he is probably in much better game shape than Gaston is.  While all road games in the Atlantic 10 are difficult, this should be one of the easier ones the Bulldogs have all season.

-This is also the first Butler game I will be attending in person in over two years, so expect a more detailed game recap than usual.

Butler holds on against GW for 2-0 Week

After comfortably beating St. Bonaventure on Wednesday night, the Bulldogs held on after blowing a big lead to defeat George Washington 59-56.  Here are some observations for both games, since I didn't get a chance to write about the Bonnies game last week.

St. Bonaventure
- Andrew Smith scored 13 points on only 3 shot attempts.  If that isn't efficiency, I don't know what is.
- Chase Stigall made more than 2 threes for the first time all season, going 3-5 beyond the arc.
- Not nearly as efficient as Smith, but Khyle Marshall scored 12 points on 5-5 shooting.
- Erik Fromm scored 3 points in his first game back after the passing of his father.
- Rotnei Clarke scored 17 points, had 5 assists, but also 4 turnovers, which could prove costly later on.

George Washington
- Efficiency gap between Dunham and Clarke: Dunham, 10 points on 4 shot attempts.  Clarke 14 points on 16 shot attempts.
- Roosvelt Jones returned from injury to score 12 points, but 2-9 free throw shooting?
- Lack of production from big men: Butler's four bigs (Smith, Marshall, Woods, Fromm) combined for just 18 points on 33% shooting, which will not get it done down the stretch in close games.
- Assists to turnovers: This was a problem in the Saint Louis game, and again was one here.  Brad Stevens cannot be happy with 6 total assists and 18 turnovers.


Butler hosts Charlotte on Wednesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse.  On Saturday, they will play at Fordham, a game that I will be attending in person, my first game since Butler vs. Duke at the IZOD Center in December 2010.

Smith reaches 1000, Butler holds off late run by Rhode Island

Rotnei Clarke scored 23 points, Roosevelt Jones had 18, and Khyle Marshall added 13 as Butler held off a furious charge late in the second half by Rhode Island to win 75-68.  Andrew Smith scored his 1,000th point in a Butler uniform, which was the only bright spot for him during a game in which he struggled to score and rebound the basketball.  Smith and Marshall combined for only 6 rebounds, which concerns me, as the Rams were able to get way too many second chances, especially in the first half.  Smith and Kam Woods saw extended minutes during this game with Erik Fromm out, which I will touch on more later.  The team turnover count was down to 15 from 23 on Thursday, but that is still too many against a team that the Bulldogs should have beaten by 15 to 20 points at home.  I am also concerned that Kellen Dunham is hitting a late season wall that many freshman run into at some point, but he should keep shooting, even if his shots aren't falling.  The Bulldogs have historically been quite successful in the month of February, so I hope they can keep it going this year.

Condolences go out to Erik Fromm and his family.  Erik's father died today after a long battle of cancer, which is why he missed the game.  While this will certainly be tough for Erik to cope with, he should know that he has two families, his actual family and his Bulldog family, that are there to support him.

Butler hosts St. Bonaventure on Wednesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse.  The Bonnies are 3-4 in conference despite losing current NBA player Andrew Nicholson from last year's squad.