That's a Wrap: Kellen Dunham, Devontae Morgan

The last of my player recaps, here are freshmen Kellen Dunham and Devontae Morgan.

Kellen Dunham: The first ESPN top 100 recruit in Butler (ESPN is what I look at for recruiting class rankings) was quite impressive for most of the season, as he seemed to adjust from the high school game to college quite well.  He shooting keyed Butler's victories over North Carolina and Gonzaga.  However, his shooting and overall production took a dip starting with the Saint Louis game on January 31.  From that point on, he only averaged 7.3 PPG, and shot 29.5% from beyond the arc.  Now its arguable that every freshman hits a wall at some point, but his struggles directly coincided with the Bulldogs' February slump.  There is no doubt that they are a much better team when he is shooting well.  His defense is not quite up to the standard of most Butler players, but I'm sure he will improve as his career progresses.  Dunham is one of the biggest pieces Butler has for the future, and he is certainly capable of shooting better, which could eventually give him a chance to become on of the better players in Butler history.

Devontae Morgan: I don't have too much to write here because I didn't see much of him this season.  Morgan was a bench warmer this season, who mainly saw action when Butler was in a blowout, on both ends.  Stevens would occasionally use him when Butler's starting guards were just playing so poorly (VCU, Saint Louis).  I don't know how complete Morgan's offensive game is, but he has the athleticism to succeed at the D1 level, as shown by the SportsCenter top 10 play against IUPUI.  Only time will tell if Morgan will get an opportunity to have a major role in Butler's backcourt, or if he will transfer just like 450 D1 players do every season.

That's it for the player recaps.  Postings will be rather infrequent over the next few months, but do expect Butler news from time to time.  Thanks for reading.

Go Bulldogs!

That's a Wrap: Jackson Aldridge, Andrew Smeathers, Elliot Kampen

Jackson Aldridge: I had pretty low expectations for Aldridge coming into this season, based on what had transpired at the 2012 CBI Tournament.  He had lost his backup point guard job to walk-on Alex Barlow after a season of poor shooting and far too many turnovers for a point guard.  So I was definitely surprised to see him get the minutes he did in November of this season, especially in the North Carolina game where he played a season high 21 minutes.  But by mid December, Alex Barlow had not only taken his spot in the rotation, but Barlow even took a starting spot from Kellen Dunham.  From the beginning of A10 play onward, he only played a total of 50 minutes, most of them garbage minutes.  While his shooting was atrocious this season, I don't believe it is a large enough of a sample size to take to seriously.  Still, Aldridge has a long way to go on both ends of the court before he sees major minutes in a Butler uniform again.  In the summer of 2011, I remember thinking that he was going to have a bigger impact than Roosevelt Jones.  While that came nowhere close to happening, I haven't yet given up hope that Aldridge can help fill the tremendous void left by Butler last two point guards, Rotnei Clarke and Ronald Nored.

Andrew Smeathers: After off-season surgery and an inconsistent freshman season, I was an advocate of redshirting Smeathers.  With Kellen Dunham coming in, I knew minutes would be hard to come by at the 3.  Now that the season is over, I still wish Smeathers had sat out this year.  He averaged only 2.4 minutes per game in slightly more than half of Butler's contests, and like Aldridge, his shooting was also quite poor.  Still, he came to Butler with a reputation as a shooter and I still think he can become a situational offensive weapon.  What I mean by that is coming in for the last possession of the half and spotting up in the corner, and other circumstances where Butler needs a basket.  The potential is still there, but like Aldridge, it will a long uphill battle for Smeathers to get significant playing time.

Elliot Kampen: Kampen only played 12 minutes this season, fewer than any other player.  The only game he has ever gotten significant minutes in is the Milwaukee game last season where Butler was shooting so poorly they couldn't even get the ball in the Atlantic Ocean.  (Yes it was that bad)  While still a walk-on who will never see important time on the court, he can still become a leader and a vocal presence in the locker room.  From Nick Rodgers to Alex Anglin to his older brother Emerson Kampen, Butler has a history of high character walk-ons that Elliot Kampen will try to add his name to that list.

Footnote: In my blog post about Chrishawn Hopkins way back in October, I said that Wright State was on a downward trend after being picked last in the Horizon preseason poll.  I sincerely apologize for that comment.  I didn't know how successful that group of team-oriented role players could be, and I will most certainly think twice before making another radical comment like that one.

That's a Wrap: Roosevelt Jones, Kameron Woods, Alex Barlow (Sophomores, part 1)

Sorry for the delay, I have been quite busy lately.  Nonetheless, here is my season recap for Butler's sophomore class.

Roosevelt Jones: Jones made some major strides in certain areas of his game, and remained stagnant in other areas.  After the departure of near 4-year starting point guard Ronald Nored, many thought it would it would be Rotnei Clarke to fill the assists void left by Nored.  But it was Roosevelt Jones who showed the ability to handle the ball under pressure and deliver the ball where it needed to be.  Yet there is still room for improvement for Jones as a ball-handler and passer, as he only had a 1.22 assist/turnover ratio.  In terms of scoring, Jones was even more aggressive getting in the lane for floaters, a shot he has completely mastered.  Shooting the ball continues to be a difficulty for Jones, as he has not displayed any ability to shoot a jump shot.  Also, he continues to have poor form and inconsistent results from the free throw line.  Jones rebounded well for his size getting almost 6 rebounds per game despite only being 6'4.  Overall, Roosevelt Jones was one of Butler's better players this season, doing a little bit of everything on offense in addition to being a defensive stopper, as exemplified by the last play of the Gonzaga game.  He still has a long way to go to become a complete player, but I am confident that he will be able to lead a younger Bulldogs squad to success next season.

Kameron Woods: I made a point of this all season, but going from 37% from the field as a freshman to nearly 55% as a sophomore is truly remarkable.  Woods realized that he was not a good three point shooter, as he attempted only four all season, which certainly helped his shooting percentage.  Woods was able to use his long arms to grab many offensive rebounds.  In fact, he had more rebounds than points this season.  His mid-range jumper developed so much that I believe it is now better than Khyle Marshall's mid-range.  To improve for next season, he needs to get stronger so that he can play alongside Marshall in the front court.  That will also be a necessity because Butler has no true center next season, so Woods will have to play big the same way Matt Howard did as an undersized center for his first three years.

Alex Barlow: With Butler's depth at the guard spot coming into the season (even after the loss of Chrishawn Hopkins), I wasn't sure how much playing time Alex Barlow would receive.  In November, it seemed as though Jackson Aldridge had taken the backup point guard spot from Barlow during the Maui Invitational, but Barlow quickly won those minutes back and eventually got into the starting lineup.  Brad Stevens said that Barlow is one of he's ever had at Butler, which is saying something considering that Butler has had some great defensive players in recent years.  (Nored, Shawn Vanzant, Willie Veasley).  The game winning shot at Indiana, and consistent hustle and effort kept him on the court all season long.  I have no doubt that Alex Barlow will continue to lead the more inexperienced players for Butler for years to come and he will continue to have a major impact at Butler.

That's a Wrap: Khyle Marshall, Erik Fromm

Khyle Marshall

This Season: There were high expectations for Marshall this season. And for the first six games of the season, he met those expectations, averaging 13.7 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game. However, as the season went on, his production dropped, as well as his minutes.  After the Indiana game, his playing time exceeded 26 minutes only once.  He slowly saw his minutes drop, as Kameron Woods began chipping away at Marshall's playing time.  By the end of the season, Woods was even playing more than Marshall.  In fact, over the final six games of the season, Marshall was averaging 17.5 minutes per game compared to 21.0 MPG for Kam Woods in that time span.  The problem for Marshall this season was that he is not a true post player, and a majority of his points are scored on dunks and great passes from teammates.  Marshall was largely unable to create shots for himself in the post.  I will say that Marshall improved his mid range jump shot, but his free throw shooting did not make that same stride.  At 6'6, Marshall was unable to take advantage of his athleticism to grab rebounds, as he averaged only 3.4 RPG over the final 21 games of the season.  To put it more simply, the combination of Kameron Woods' long arms and his improving jump shot (to the point where it was as good as Marshall's) kept the undersized Marshall on the bench for the majority of key stretches in the second half of games.

Butler Career: Marshall started his Butler career with one of the best mentor's a big man could ever have: Matt Howard.  Marshall showed both promise and inconsistency as a freshman with some outstanding games such as the game against Florida in the Elite Eight, and other games where he seemed invisible in single digit minutes.  As a sophomore, Marshall, along with Andrew Smith, did an admirable job trying to replace the production of Howard.  However, after playing with the USA U-19 team the summer before, Marshall largely failed to be the dynamic scorer that Butler so desperately needed in 2011-12.  This season was largely similar to last season, and Marshall was unable to sustain his strong start to the season, and faded towards relative obscurity down the stretch (if that's even possible for someone who has highlight reel dunks regularly).  Marshall has one more chance to reach his potential in college, and fill the void left by another big man, this time Andrew Smith.  I would like to see Marshall play small forward at times next season, because it would give him a size advantage down low, and it is the position he will most certainly play at the next level.

Erik Fromm

This Season: Like Marshall, Fromm followed up last season with an eerily similar one this season.  He continued in his role from last season backing up Andrew Smith, but was actually slightly more efficient this season.  His 2 point field goal percentage went slightly up, his 3 point percentage went slightly down.  While I wouldn't exactly call Fromm a strong interior defender, he definitely improved his post defense and rebounding to a point where he doesn't get manhandled by a Cody Zeller caliber player.  It was definitely difficult for Fromm losing his father but he was still able to play relatively well after that incident.  

Butler Career: When Erik Fromm came to Butler, I expected him to be the three point shooter that Florida's Erik Murphy is now.  Like Chase Stigall, Fromm's 3 point shooting has disappointed me in his three years, two as role player, one as bench warmer.  Fromm will need to replace Andrew Smith's 3 point production next season, and will probably get more looks from outside.  He also needs to get stronger as he will see more minutes at the 5.  His current frame might cause him to pick up fouls at that position, similar to the way being undersized plagued Matt Howard at the 5.

I hope Fromm can be a strong mentor for Nolan Berry, as those two battle it out for minutes in Butler's crowded front court next season.

Notes

- Expect to see the wrap up for sophomores by the end of the week.  There are quite a few of them, so it will take some time.  

- As I was writing this article, I saw this tweet from IndyStar's David Woods: 

Coaching news: Brandon Miller returning to #Butler staff; Darnell Archey & @RonaldNored to join Matthew Graves at So. Ala. Story coming.

- I will discuss the above tweet more in a later post.

In the meantime, go Bulldogs!