Butler's Chrabascz out 3-6 weeks

[HoosierPal]

Butler's already in the NCAA Tournament barring a complete meltdown. As long as he's healthy for the NCAA tournament, that's what matters. Hopefully, he's healthy sooner, but the NCAAs are the most important thing.

The thing that is rough about that is this could easily impact the seeding. They lose say 3 of the final 6 games(the 3 tougher ones)- they are 21-10 and then a 1st rd exit. Could drop them from the 5-6 line down to the 8-9 line.

I would take a 3-3 record this minute. Four on the road, Creighton, Xavier, DePaul, Providence, and only two at Hinkle, Marquette and Georgetown. Wideman (2.6 ppg) and Etherington (2.4 ppg) are going to have to step up big time.

Here is an excerpt from the Butler Insider, Michael Pointer, afternoon article.

Holtmann is hoping Chrabascz returns in time for the Big East tournament on March 11-14 in New York.

At first glance, Chrabascz's absence appears to give freshman Tyler Wideman and Indiana transfer Austin Etherington.

The 6-6, 245-pound Wideman went 4-for-4 from the field and scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds in an 88-76 over Xavier on Jan. 10, but has been a virtual non-factor during the rest of Big East play. He's also shooting just 43 percent from the free-throw line (17-for-39). But the Butler coaching staff thinks he has a bright future and Holtmann has called him the strongest player on the team.

The 6-6, 215-pound Etherington has been effective at times coming off the bench, but he's struggled at both IU and Butler when given increased playing time. He's also primarily an outside shooter and wouldn't give Butler a banger down low, a role that Wideman might be able to provide.

Butler also could go small and play Kelan Martin, who has been by far its best player off the bench this season, but that would leave the Bulldogs with precious little depth in the back court. Martin is 6-6 and weighs 215 pounds, but the Butler coaches are much more comfortable with him playing on the wing as opposed to a post position. Holtmann was non-committal when asked about his plans on Sunday.