Yes, Butler played an ugly road game at Evansville on Saturday night. But remember this - it was on the road and they won. Here's why they won:
-Offensive Execution: Don't laugh, let me explain. What Butler did was execute its offense well enough to get 44 free throws. Not all of that is one-on-one stuff with Matt Howard and Gordon Hayward. Butler worked its offense and got good shots. Evansville had to foul because Butler was working them for good shots.
- Balance: Butler has had four guys go for double-digit scoring in each game. Teams double down on Howard, that's a given. Hayward and Mack are really good players, that's a given. But Howard is still hovering around 10 ppg without getting on track while other guys like Veasley, VanZant and Hahn are stepping up.
- Willie Veasley: That guy is good (see more on this below).
MORE ON EVANSVILLE
I thought Garrett Butcher gave really good minutes. He has shaken off that bout of swine flu, which isn't always easy. He's a classic Butler freshman-sophomore role player and then he'll become a junior-senior leader/scorer. Players like him are the reason Butler is good. Brandon Crone clone.
I'm not ready to say Evansville is a bad team. Before you say, "Mr. Blogger, Evansville was picked last in the MVC poll." ... save it. Those polls are a joke. Other than who gets picked first, they're never right, and nobody really cares. They were picked last because they lost their top 4 scorers. Ely and Holsinger were good players at UE. On paper in September, yeah, they looked crappy.
But they had size, some shooters (Ryan) and a quick guard (Taylor) that could penetrate. That's not a bad team. They also had a good crowd behind them while playing their most marquee home game of the year. Last' IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER because Butler will be seeing that "marquee" treatment every night for the next few years.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Butler won the game and was barely - if at all - threatened. Butler led virtually the entire game. Most of it by 8-10 points! The shot 28 percent on the road and won, leading by 10 into the final minute. That's the sign of a good team that will move to great once they start clicking.
SLICK WILLIE
Right now, at this very moment, after three games, Willie Veasley has been Butler's best player. But the statistics aside for a moment. He is such a valuable player. He didn't have a big line against Evansville, but follow me on this.
He can guard (almost) any position, and well. He was banging down low with the UE bigs on Saturday, something the team needed badly. He can guard the perimeter. He penetrates with quickness and absorbs contact with strength. He can hit an open 3 from time to time. Rebounding? Willie's got you covered. He keeps so many possessions alive on the offensive boards with his athleticism. He's a heady player (how about that out-of-bounds play late when he got the ball back to Hayward).
There's no question he's worth A TON to Butler's potential success this season.
SAY WHAT?
OK. Not a great debut for that local station up in Indy who carried the game. I'll send you HERE to read the majority of complaints if you don't know what I'm talking about. Here's my favorite part:
Just a bit more than 4 minutes remaining in the game, Butler leads by something like 7-9 or something like that. Maybe more. Ron Nored gets a rebound and dribbles the other way for a fast break. He's one-on-one with some guy from Evansville. There are four "some guys" from Evansville trailing the play.
COLOR GUY: Bad decision by Ronald Nor-ADD. He should pull that back out and kill the clock!! He had four defender trailing him!
Um, yeah. He had four defenders TRAILING him. That means behind him, and that means he only has to get by one guy to get to the basket. That would be a perfect reason to drive to the hoop. And they're only up by eight, with more than four minutes to play. Again, a perfect time to drive to the basket.
MINNESOTA PREDICTION
Minnesota is really good. Today, when you look at how the first 10 days of the season are going, I'd have to say Minnesota has LOOKED better than Butler. Whether that plays out in Anaheim, we'll see on ESPN2 Thursday night.
Minnesota has really good guards and several capable big men in the 6'8 to 6'11 range. They are well-coached and always play stingy defense.
Luckily for Butler, I'm not sold on Minnesota's shooting or ability to play outside of The Barn.
It'll be a tremendously low-scoring game, with 30 points enough to lead at half. Minnesota will control most of the game before Butler methodically cuts the lead to two on multiple occasions without anybody noticing.
Minnesota will get a late stop to preserve a tight game.
Minnesota 64, Butler 59
GOOD FOR A LAUGH
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