That's a Wrap: Rotnei Clarke, Andrew Smith, Chase Stigall, Emerson Kampen

(For those wondering about the title, I am a frequent visitor of insidethehall.com)

Rotnei Clarke
This Season: Essentially, Clarke was everything he was advertised as when he transferred to Butler in the summer of 2011.  He shot an immense amount of threes, and while shooting 41%, that was actually a few percentage points down from his junior season at Arkansas.  Clarke was never a true point guard at Arkansas, and that was more than visible this season.  Clarke had more turnovers than assists this season, and he was often moved off the ball in favor of Roosevelt Jones toward the latter part of the season.  He certainly had his fare share of turnovers in crucial moments this season, but so did most of the Bulldogs players.  As much as a deficiency he had in passing ability, he brought great 3-point shooting to a team that so desperately needed it.  His buzzer beater against Marquette will go down as one of the best buzzer beaters in college basketball this season.  His leadership both on and off the court will be sorely missed on a young Bulldogs squad next season, and he made the most of his two years at Butler.
Butler Career: While this was only season that Clarke suited up in for Butler, I truly believe that his offensive presence in practice last season was a major contribution to Ronald Nored winning the 2012 Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year.  Clarke set a great example with his work ethic, and represented the Butler Way in many different aspects.

Andrew Smith
This Season: While Smith's shooting percentage was slightly down this season, he made up for that with increased productivity at the free throw line.  Nothing else changed drastically for Smith this year, as he remained a solid rebounder and decent three point shooter.  Smith could have scored more this season if Butler guards were more inclined to feed him the ball down low instead of remaining three point shot happy.  While he certainly had some struggles finishing inside on his jump hooks, he was clearly the leader of Butler's front line,  and did everything he could have reasonably been asked for.
Butler Career: Smith faced quite a difficult situation when he arrived on Butler's campus in the fall of 2009.  He was the only new player, as everyone else on the roster was a returning player.  He was the only one who had to learn the offense that the other players already new.  Needless to say there was a great deal of pressure on Smith as Butler's one-man recruiting class of 2009.  While he played very few minutes during his freshman season behind Matt Howard, Avery Jukes, and Gordon Hayward in the frontcourt, he gained valuable experience and was even able to make a contribution in Butler's Elite Eight game vs. Kansas State that season.  As a sophomore, Smith starting at center made Matt Howard a much better player, as Howard could roam around the perimeter with his newly developed 3 point shot while Smith was being physical in the paint.  Even though he made big leaps and bounds from his freshman season, Smith struggled in the 2011 NCAA tournament, often sitting on the bench in favor of Khyle Marshall.  As a junior, Smith was expected to lead Butler back to the NCAA tournament, but the team's lack of three point shooting caused opposing defenses to clamp down on Smith in the paint, which led to many offensive struggles for both Smith and the team in 2011-12.  Smith was slightly more aggressive as a senior and was able to keep his 11 point per game average while playing strong post defense and providing  excellent leadership.  Smith will definitely be severely missed next season as the Bulldogs try to make it back to the NCAA tournament.

Chase Stigall
This Season: I thought Stigall had a chance to start this season following the dismissal of star guard Chrishawn Hopkins, but strong play in the early season from Roosevelt Jones, Alex Barlow, and Kellen Dunham left the senior on the bench most of the time.  Stigall was relegated to only 10 minutes per game this season, and his playing time steadily decreased during the course of the season.  Stigall was never a great shooter in his Butler career, and he once again hovered around 30 % from distance the entire season.  He was certainly an upgrade to Dunham on defense when he came in the game, but his shot selection was often questionable for a guy who wasn't a particularly good shooter to begin with.  I will remember the two 3's he made to propel Butler to beat Indiana, as that was easily the highlight of his season.  I still commend the way he was able to accept his diminished role, which truly shows he selfless nature as a basketball player.
Butler Career: No one has had as many different roles on Butler as Stigall had.  From bench warmer during his freshman season, to role player off the bench for the majority of his sophomore season, to a starter playing over 20 minutes per game towards the end of that season, taking minutes away from the defensively challenged Zach Hahn.  For November through January of his junior season, he was a starter playing almost 30 minutes per game.  In February and March, he returned to the bench as a role player playing about 15 minutes per game.  As a senior, he played about 10 minutes per game coming off the bench.  Had Stigall become a 38-40% three point shooter, he would've played as much as Kellen Dunham did this season, given the fact that he is clearly a better defender than Dunham is.  But unfortunately, Stigall's inconsistent 3 point shooting kept him in and out of games during his five years in a Butler uniform.  Nonetheless, he always set a great example for younger players, and I was pleased that he was able to contribute for the team in many different aspects, especially on the defensive end, which is what he should be remembered for.

Emerson Kampen
This Season and Butler Career: Brad Stevens said on Dan Dakich's radio show that Kampen was one of the most important players on the team that does not get any credit.  While he averaged less than one minute per game season, I will say this.  No one was as comfortable with a difficult task this season than Emerson Kampen.  It is not easy to have precision on those full court baseball passes, but Kampen did a great job at getting the Bulldogs great looks in short time clock situations this season.  The Marquette game last week and the Evansville game last season are two great examples of Kampen's ability to make the difficult pass to lead to a basket, by Andrew Smith in both situations (although Smith's basket was dubiously waived off in the Evansville game).  EK was also a model of humility and high character.  His contribution to the team does not show up in the box score, but it is quite visible in the Butler locker room.

NCAA Tournament recap, Graves' coaching job, and more

I'm typing from my iPod on a train right now so please excuse any typos.  I'm sorry I haven't posted anything in a week, but I have been traveling on vacation and have had little access to a computer.  I wasn't able to watch Butler vs. Bucknell, though I heard that Butler's bigs did a great job on Mike Muscala.  Rotnei Clarke's shooting really helped Butler overcome a six point deficit in the second half.

I was able to watch the entire second half of the Marquette game.  I was consistently upset with Butler's guards, who missed Andrew Smith on the low post on numerous occasions.  Not only was Smith playing well, more attention on Smith inside could've opened up more perimeter looks for Clarke and Dumham, who both played poor second halves.  Defensively, I felt that Smith did a good job hedging out on Marquette's ball screens, but Clarke could not stay with the Marquette guards, and Roosevelt Jones could've done more to help on defense.  As close as this game was down the stretch I just wasn't sure that the Bulldogs would be able to do enough to win.  Maybe that was because Matt Howard wasn't on the court for BU.  Despite Smith's free throws and a nice baseline jumper from Kam Woods in the last couple of minutes, Butler was just too turnover prone, which has been a problem the entire second half of the season.  Neither Smith nor Clarke
Was able to get good looks from three to win the game, and a great defensive play from who else, Alex Barlow, went for nothing.  So the Bulldogs ran out of the March magic they had in 2010 and 2011.  2013-14 could be a difficult year without the on court ability of Andrew Smith and Rotnei Clarke, and the leadership of Chase Stigall and Emerson Kampen (I should mention that it was Kampen who through the long baseball pass to Smith for the goal-tended layup in the final minute).  But I will talk more about next season as the spring and summer months move on.

In other Butler news, long time assistant coach Matthew Graves (Butler, '98) has accepted the head coaching position at South Alabama.  While he was a great assistant coach and I am sad to see him go, he is more than ready for a head coach job after having been under the tutelage of a head coach like Brad Stevens.  I wish Graves nothing but the best at South Alabama.

Lastly, I will be doing individual player analysis for every Butler player by class.  Expect that to come in the next week or two.

Also, if you are reading this, thank you for taking time to read my blog.  I know I am not the best writer, but I truly have a passion Butler basketball and really live this team win or lose.  I thank you for sticking with my blog despite all the late/missed entries, awkwardly phrased sentences, and any other mistakes I may have made.

Go Bulldogs!

Butler to face Bucknell in "2nd Round" of NCAA Tournament

I was really down after the Saint Louis game, and also perplexed that Roosevelt Jones wasn't able to defend Dwayne Evans.  I was also shocked that Saint Louis' Cody Ellis went 4/8 from 3 point range, after having gone 0/11 just 10 days earlier.  Also, turnovers have continued to plague Butler this season, committing 20 of them against the Billikens.  Jim Crews has done a great job with his squad, and their physical defense has an odd resemblance to Butler's in 2009-10.

Moving forward, Butler's first opponent is Bucknell, in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament (even though I still consider it the 1st round).  6-11 forward Mike Muscala is a potential NBA prospect for Bucknell, and Brad Stevens said he is better than Matt Howard on ESPNU Katz's Corner yesterday.  Overall, Butler will have a very difficult time winning this game if they play the way they did in the second half against Saint Louis.  But hey, its March, and the Bulldogs haven't lost an NCAA Tournament game in March since 2009.  But if their March magic runs out, they will need strong performances from Smith, Marshall, and Woods to match the ability of Muscala.

Butler on to A-10 semi-finals after wins against Dayton and LaSalle

First off, sorry for the late update.  Weekday afternoon games just aren't a good time for me.  Nonetheless, Butler has beaten Dayton and LaSalle the last two days to reach the semifinals.  I will discuss each game separately.

Dayton
This game saw Rotnei Clarke and Andrew Smith as Butler's primary scorers, with Smith scoring 18, and Clarke 21.  Both shot the ball well, and they combined for 13/25 from the field.  Erik Fromm played his best game in quite some time with 9 points in 10 minutes off the bench, going 4/6 from the field.  No one else stood out from a scoring standpoint, all the Roosevelt Jones has proven he is the best passer on this team, dishing out 6 assists against Dayton.

LaSalle
Butler had much more balanced scoring in this contests, with six different players all scoring between 9 and 14 points.  Clarke shot the ball poorly and finished with 14 points.  Butler got excellent scoring production from 3 out of their 4 bigs, as Smith, Marshall and Woods combined for 34 points.  Butler does not need Fromm and Woods to both score in the same game, but for Butler to be successful, at least one of them have to provide a spark off the bench.  Against Dayton it was Fromm, and against LaSalle it was Woods.

Now Butler is hoping to get revenge on Saint Louis the same way the got revenge on Milwaukee during the 2011 Horizon League Championship.  The match ups are quite similar.  For both Milwaukee in 2011 and Saint Louis this year, Butler got blown out on the road and lost a close game at home during the regular season.  In 2011, Butler beat Milwaukee in the championship to make it to the NCAA tournament.  Just like it was in 2011, Butler hoping that the third time is the charm against Saint Louis.

4-Seed? Make that 5-Seed. Plus All-Conference Honors

First off, my apologies in saying on my last post that the Bulldogs would get the #4 seed in the A-10 tournament, as I didn't realize what came next in the tiebreaker after head-to-head record.  Butler, Temple, and LaSalle were all 11-5 in conference, and each team went 1-1 against the other two teams.  Next comes record vs. top teams in the standings.  Since Temple beat #1 seed Saint Louis and LaSalle beat #2 seed VCU, and Butler lost to both teams, the Bulldogs are saddled with the #5 seed and no first round bye.  Its unfortunate, but that's just how tiebreakers work.

Now on a more positive note, four Bulldogs are included in the A-10 postseason honors.  Rotnei Clarke made the first team all-conference, Roosevelt Jones made the all-defensive team, Kellen Dunham made the all-rookie team, and Andrew Smith made the all-academic team.  Congrats to those four Bulldogs on those well deserved awards.

Butler faces Dayton in the first round of the A-10 tournament on Thursday  but I won't be able to watch, so expect a smaller, less-detailed game recap, as I will just be working with a box score and post-game comments.

Woods' late free throws propels Butler past Xavier

He's done it in back to back games.  Kameron Woods had another fine game with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 blocks, as Butler survived a late second half comeback to defeat Xavier.  Rotnei Clarke found his shot in the second half which allowed Butler to extend to an 8 point lead, and Clarke finished as Butler's leading scorer with 21 points.  Kellen Dunham had an quiet 8 points, yet he continues to scored very efficiently.  Andrew Smith has struggled mightily from the field lately, and settled for just 7 points.  While his interior defense left a lot to be desired, Erik Fromm was an offensive spark for the Bulldogs in the first half, and his two field goals ended a five game field goal drought.  Roosevelt Jones had a poor game, and did not assert himself too much offensively.  He went 1/3 from the field in 39 minutes, and had 4 assists to go along with 5 turnovers, including a five second violation when holding the ball near half court.  Nonetheless, this was a good with for Butler who will take a two game winning streak into the Atlantic 10 tournament.  I believe they will be the #4 seed with a first round bye, as they would hold the tiebreaker with Temple if those two teams are tied in the standings.  (Butler has the same conference record as LaSalle, but the Explorers won the head to head match up therefore earning the #3 seed.)

Notes:
- Seniors Chase Stigall and Emerson Kampen started, alongside Andrew Smith and Rotnei Clarke.  However, both were out of the game by the 16:00 mark, never to reenter in the game.
- Butler beat Xavier for the first time since Gordon Hayward's "buzzer beater" in December 2009.  Today's game reminded me a lot of that game in that Butler blew a second half lead, allowed Xavier to take the lead late, and then came back to win in the final five minutes.  Some of Semaj Christon's shots in the second half were eerily similar to those of former Xavier guard Jordon Crawford who propelled Xavier in that 2009 game.
- With the way that Kameron Woods has played this year, I have to believe both he and Marshall deserve 25 minutes per game next season, even though they play the same position. While we're looking towards next year, I think Nolan Berry and Erik Fromm will round out the Butler frontcourt along with Marshall and Woods, but I'll talk about next season more once this season is over.

Woods leads Butler to victory at UMass

Kameron Woods scored 17 points on 7-11 shooting to lead Butler to a great road win and confidence booster.  I cannot underscore how much he has improved, even if his scoring average does not indicate that. He shot 37% from the field last year and is now shooting 54% this year.  I saw a two minute stretch we he scored on back-to-back alley-oops from Roosevelt Jones, and then swishing a mid range jumper on the third possession.  This was by far his best game of the season.  However, Woods was not the only one who contributed to the victory.  

Khyle Marshall scored an efficient 14 points on 6-7 shooting, and Andrew Smith produced a Matt Howard-like stat line with 9-13 from the free throw line and 15 rebounds, which led to 13 points.  Alex Barlow filled the stat sheet with 4 points on 2-2 shooting, 3 assists, and 4 steals.  Roosevelt Jones also filled the stat sheet with, 6 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists.  He always manages to have a major impact on the game even if he is not looking for his shot, and tonight was a prime example of that.  On the downside, Butler did not get good games from Rotnei Clarke or Kellen Dunham.  Dunham scored 2 points while going 0-6 from distance, while Clarke scored 17 points on 16 shot attempts, going 3-12 from distance.  Even worse, Clarke had 3 assists and 6 turnovers, further proving my point that he is not a true point guard.  As poorly as Clarke and Dunham played, it was nice to see that the Bulldogs were able to win without shooting the 3 point shot well.  

Brad Stevens essentially cut the rotation to 7, down from its traditional 9.  Erik Fromm and Chase Stigall only played two minutes each, although for Fromm, that was mainly due to the fact Andrew Smith played a season-high 37 minutes.  This could continue for the two of them, especially if they continue to be unable to make three pointers, which is their primary role on offense.  

Butler faces Xavier in their first ever A-10 match-up against the Musketeers on Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse.  Thanks once again to NBC Sports Network for allowing an out-of-market Bulldog fan to watch games that wouldn't otherwise be on national television.

VCU's full court press defeats Butler

After the Gonzaga game, I heard a few comparisons of this year's Butler team to the 2009-10 team.  I never agreed with that comparison, and I knew that the Bulldogs would not be able to sustain their incredibly high level of play from mid-January.  Back to today's game.  Butler could not beat VCU's constant full court press, and could not even get the ball in bounds from the sideline.  Rotnei Clarke and Andrew Smith sat the final 16 minutes of the game, which is surprising since those two could have provided much needed offense for Butler.  The real problem for Butler as of late is turnovers, which in part stems from the fact that they do not have a true point guard.  Rotnei Clarke is mainly a scorer, Roosevelt Jones is more of a forward than a guard, and Alex Barlow is primarily a defender, and only averages 2 assists per game.  For the last four years, Butler has had a clear starting point guard, Ronald Nored.  And for the two years before Nored, the Bulldogs had Mike Green.  This year, the lack of an identity at point guard has allowed VCU, Saint Louis, and other teams to pressure the Bulldogs.  Also, I would not like Andrew Smith and Erik Fromm to be the inbounders on sideline/baseline out of bounds plays.  Instead a guard can lob it to a big, and then the big could hand it off to the guard.  I could talk about how VCU how Butler gave up 84 points, but there defense wasn't bad throughout the game.  VCU's high point total is in part due to the fact that this was an uptempo game.  I'm not worried about Butler on defense, I'm worried about the offense, and the potential for teams to continue to press Butler after seeing what happened today.  Butler by no means has clinched an NCAA tournament appearance  and the Bulldogs will have to get one if not two more quality wins to avoid biting their nails on Selection Sunday.  I know Brad Stevens will get his team to regroup, and that they will eventually be able to break full court presses with more consistency then they did today.  It is just a matter of time, which is limited as of now and the Dawgs will have to make adjustments very quickly.