Matt Howard signs with Ratiopharm Ulm in Germany

After spending all of last season in France, former Butler forward Matt Howard will be playing for Ratiopharm Ulm in Germany for the 2013-14 season.  Notable players who have played for Ratiopharm include 2-time NCAA national champion Lee Humphrey and former NBA player Allan Ray.  Last season in France, playing for Chorale de Roanne, Howard averaged 9.0 PPG and 6.1 RPG in 24.7 MPG.  2 years ago, Howard had a stint in Germany with Neckar Ludwigsburg (in the same league as Ratiopharm) averaging over 12 PPG. Before that he had a brief, injury plagued stint with Olympiacos in Greece before the team released him.  I'm looking forward to watching Matt continue his professional basketball career in Europe with the hope that he could still eventually become one of those journeymen who makes the NBA at age 30.

Butler to open Big East competition against Villanova on New Year's Eve

According to SportsNola.com writer Lenny Vangilder, Butler will host Villanova on New Year's Eve, December 31st, to begin Big East play.  This game is the fourth game of a five game marathon on the new channel Fox Sports 1.  December 31 is a Tuesday this year, so I would imagine this game would be the Bulldogs' second game following Christmas.  They will most likely play their last non-conference game on Saturday, December 28.

Also, I was sad to hear that David Woods will not be covering Butler basketball for the Indianapolis star anymore.  He did a great job covering games, scheduling, recruiting, coaches' and players' perspectives, and I enjoyed reading his "Bulldog bits" at the end of each article.  He is part of what inspired me to start writing this blog, so I will miss his coverage a lot.  I wish him the best of luck covering Olympic sports for the Star in the future.

Stay tuned for more Bulldog schedule updates!

Starting Lineup Discussion: Who starts alongside Marshall?

Khyle Marshall is a two year starter for Butler, and as a freshman he made significant contributions off the bench in Butler's national championship run in 2011.  While inconsistent at times, he has earned to the right to start as an undersized power forward.  For the first time since the 2009-10 season, Butler will not be starting a traditional center as Andrew Smith has been a starter for the last three years.  Three players have a legitimate chance of starting at the other forward spot, and all bring different strengths to the court.  I am going to look at why these three players should or should not be starting.

Kameron Woods: Woods is the tallest player on Butler's 2013-14 season at 6'9, but he is quite slender for his size and there are questions concerning his ability to defend Big East centers.  However, what Woods lacks in strength he makes up for in wingspan and athleticism.  Last season, he was Butler's third leading rebounder at nearly five rebounds per game in only 17 minutes per game.  Offensively, his game developed well towards the end of last season, and he possesses many of the abilities that Marshall does: mid-range jump shot, athleticism, ability to finish alley oops.  Maybe that could be an argument against starting both Woods and Marshall because they have similar abilities.  While I am not so sure that Woods will start, he should come off the bench and play more than 20 minutes per game while sharing the floor with Marshall for a few minutes here and there.

Erik Fromm: Erik Fromm is your traditional pick and pop big man, with the ability to hit three point shots as well as mid range jump shots.  He is not the rebounder that Woods is, but that is partly because he only played about 11 minutes per game.  Last season, Fromm grabbed a rebound every 4.45 minutes and Woods grabbed a rebound every 3.48 minutes.  Fromm has more strength to guard big men but he still won't be able to defend as well as Andrew Smith did.  I cannot emphasize how much Smith will be missed; Smith might even be missed more than Rotnei Clarke.  Starting Fromm would space the floor and give Butler a second three point shooter in the lineup alongside Kellen Dunham, but still has limitations on both ends of the floor.

Nolan Berry: I have already heard comparisons of Nolan Berry to Matt Howard.  While Berry may have the offensive skill level of Matt Howard, he weighs only 190 pounds, so I don't like his chances of starting as a freshman in the Big East.  He might become an option to start if Fromm or Woods is unable to replace Andrew Smith's offensive production.  Still, I think he has a lot to learn and a lot of strength to add before he sees major minutes in a Butler uniform.

Stay tuned for more Butler lineup discussion (specifically the point guard position) in the coming weeks!

Why I don't cover Butler basketball recruiting

The beginning to my last entry might have been slightly misleading when is said there hasn't been very much Butler basketball news lately.  There have been numerous reports of Butler's offers to players in the 2014 and 2015 recruiting classes, but I really don't care about these offers unless the player signs with Butler.  Even when a player does commit to Butler, I don't really analyze his game until the fall.  Its not that I don't care how these Butler commits are doing in high school, but unless they suffer a severe injury their senior year of high school, I don't really care what happens until they are officially on the Butler roster.  So was I concerned when incoming freshman Nolan Berry got injured? Yes.  But unless something dramatic happens, I will only cover players who are listed on the roster on Butler's website.  I will have posts about Butler basketball alums from time to time or compare these alums to current players, briefly referencing them in a post.  This blog is about Butler basketball only and I am going to make sure that it continues to be that way.