Marshall's missed free throws allow Oklahoma State to squeak past Butler

Khyle Marshall missed two free throws with Butler down by one point and 8 seconds left.  My worst nightmare became a reality.  All season long I have been worried about anyone other than Dunham at the free throw line.  And the 55% free throw shooter Marshall (that percentage is now lower), is one guy who has good form but missed the first shot short and the second one long.  Nonetheless, Butler played admirably against the #5 team in the country.  I guess they ran out of miracles after last season.  Kellen Dunham had a makeable layup at the end that wouldn't fall.  The Bulldogs had their chances but Marcus Smart certainly left the door open with three consecutive missed free throws, so it was not just the Bulldogs missing free throws.  This has been an exciting Old Spice Classic and I am looking forward to the game tomorrow against an opponent yet to be decided.

Butler Survives Poor Free Throw Shooting to Defeat Vanderbilt in Overtime

I was not planning on doing a game recap for this game, but I caught the last 10 minutes of regulation and the overtime period on Fox Sports 1, so I will discuss my impressions of the portion of the game I saw.

1. There is no one to trust at the free throw line.  I thought I trusted Kellen Dunham (I tweeted that during the end of the second half), but he missed the front end of a one-and-one.  Marshall, Woods, and Aldridge also missed many free throws down the stretch.  This was the main reason Butler blew their 14 point second half lead.

2.  Elijah Brown is ready for the big stage.  With a lovely double-clutch jumper in the paint along with a couple of high pressure free throws, he is inching closer to the starting lineup and could potentially take Erik Fromm's spot if Butler decides to go small.

3. Khyle Marshall knows his strengths and weaknesses.  A number of times he was forced to dribble right and then spun back to the left with an impressive array of floaters, jump hooks, and finger rolls.  He was absolutely the MVP of this game and it is nice to see him stepping up as a senior and filling the scoring void of Clarke/Smith/Jones.

4. The rotation is essentially 9.  Rene Castro plays spare minutes as the 3rd string point guard and Nolan Berry may see a minute or two here or there, but it looks as though Morgan, Chrabascz, Brown, and Aldridge are the only bench players who will see major minutes.

*Anyone familiar with US History will appreciate ESPN's clever title in their game recap: http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400504469

*Butler next plays at Ball State on Saturday, and I may or may not be able to watch and put a game recap.  But their will definitely be another article on Wednesday, November 27.  So stay tuned Bulldog fans!  Its an exciting time of year with the Old Spice Classic coming up.

Next blog entry: November 27

Apologies to anyone who has visited this blog over the past 8 days and saw no content about Butler's first two games.  I have been overwhelmed by schoolwork and while I have watched parts of both the Lamar and Princeton games, I did not get a chance to write about the games.  On November 27 (the day before Thanksgiving) I will post my thoughts on Butler's first four games and preview the Old Spice Classic as well.

Andrew Smeathers to transfer from Butler

Yep.  That's right.  I will be changing the background to this blog shortly after I write this post.  Andrew Smeathers, Butler's sharpshooter who has seen limited action in two seasons mainly due to injury and the emergence of Roosevelt Jones, is transferring from Butler but will finish out the current academic semester.  This is a puzzling move for Butler fans because one would think that Jones' injury opened up over 30 minutes in Butler's rotation.  Maybe the strong offensive play of Elijah Brown and the strong defense of Devontae Morgan, coupled with Butler's three forward lineup, gave Smeathers the notion that minutes would be hard to come by.  Nonetheless, Smeathers is gone and although he could have made an impact, other players such as the two I just mentioned are more than capable of stepping up in his absence.

Butler defeats DePauw 93-68 in Final Exhibition

Another exhibition contest, and another victory.  While it was nice to win by 25, there are still major concerns for the Bulldogs.  One would be defense, which Miller said would need a lot of work over the next week. The other is point guard play.  No one got more than 2 assists for Butler, and while Alex Barlow may start at point guard, he doesn't have the court vision necessary to consistently find other teammates.  I followed the Creighton exhibition game last night, where Grant Gibbs had 6 assists and Devin Brooks had 7.  I would love to see that kind of output from Barlow.  And if not Barlow, either Castro or Aldridge.

On a more positive note, here are the players who stood out in my opinion:

Kellen Dunham: Another strong shooting performance, 7/11 shooting, 3/6 threes, and 6/6 at the line.  I know this isn't strong competition, but it is great to see Dunham shooting well after his Australia trip shooting woes.

Elijah Brown: 18 points on 6/11 shooting.  Continues to be an explosive weapon off the bench with the ability to drive the ball and also shoot from the outside.

Alex Barlow: Despite no assists, Barlow did everything else well last night. 9 points, 3 steals, 3/4 shooting, 1/1 threes.

Erik Fromm: I was pleasantly surprised by his aggressiveness inside, putting up 10 total free throws in the game.  Now I did not watch the game so I don't know exactly how he got fouled, but this is nonetheless a positive note.

Devontae Morgan: Reminds me a lot of Shawn Vanzant during his first 3 years at Butler.  Not much offensively, but a stud defensively.  He had 2 steals today, so I'm hoping he can become Butler's defensive stopper as a situational player.

Butler hosts Lamar in the first regular season game next Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse.