Xavier-Butler 1/4/14 - Water Fountain Game

[XUFan09]

FT's was the name of the game. We missed 8, with Dunham missing three. And what was with that last dunk. Punk move if you ask me. The classy move would have been to simply dribble out the clock. Had that been a Bulldog in the same situation, Miller would have signaled for the player to kill the clock.

Yeeeaaahh...when you are down 9 and your opponent gets the rebound with 12 seconds to go, normally you just jog back and let the team run out the clock. I'm guessing Miller wanted them to practice the press as time was expiring, but if you're going to do that and the opponent breaks the press, you have to accept getting scored on.

[XUFan09]

Against high-major teams, I think Butler benefits from the way they play. Lots of smart cuts and passes, good jump shooting from all positions, less of a tendency to take it to the rim, all with a bruising smart yet not athletic defense. Low-major and mid-major teams are used to Butler's style of play, because it's more similar to theirs, so they are better prepared and can hang in the game with them. High-major teams don't see that style as much, as they tend to have and play against more athletic, impact players. When high-major teams face that playstyle in their buy games, the talent and skillset disparity is so enormous that it's not even a really good learning experience about how to face that kind of offense and defense. What makes Butler different is that they take that playstyle of bad teams but they infuse it with talented players with great skillsets. It's a unique combination.

weird. Butler has two less points in the paint.

The difference ended up greater, but I was thinking how Khyle Marshall was the exception to that rule (pretty sure he scored all his points in the paint). He's the athletic, strong type of player that high-major teams are more apt to recruit.

[Chalmers0]

Hell Yes! Holding the Dunham/Marshall combo to 9/24 was exactly what we needed to do to win. Don't get me wrong, I think Dunham is a GREAT shooter, I just don't think he can be the primary/go-to target on a really good team (don't get me wrong, this is subject to be proven wrong down the road).

I REALLY like Chrabascz's game, I think he will be a great player down the road. Elijah Brown also had an absolute boatload of talent, although I'm not sure how well it fits into the "Butler Way." As I previously said, this is going to be a really fun rivalry going forward. Looking forward to the trip to Hinkle.

[pki1998]

I'm an X fan, and I didn't like the last second dunk. That's the type of thing Huggins players did we don't want to be like that. Dribble it out and win with class.

[Xudash]

I'm an X fan, and I didn't like the last second dunk. That's the type of thing Huggins players did we don't want to be like that. Dribble it out and win with class.

Disagree.

Had Butler not pressed, X would have dribbled it out. Butler did what they did and they got what they deserved.

[Westbrook36]

Didn't see any of the game, but if this thread is any barometer, I expect this to become a pretty big(intense) rivalry, if it wasn't already. Apparently you guys don't care for one another much.

[Wizard of Westroads]

Didn't see any of the game, but if this thread is any barometer, I expect this to become a pretty big(intense) rivalry, if it wasn't already. Apparently you guys don't care for one another much.

Agree, am surprised how heated this series seems to be already. Some of us are still trying to figure out who to hate.

[X-man]

Didn't see any of the game, but if this thread is any barometer, I expect this to become a pretty big(intense) rivalry, if it wasn't already. Apparently you guys don't care for one another much.

Agree, am surprised how heated this series seems to be already. Some of us are still trying to figure out who to hate.

Since you are apparently not associated with either team in this rivalry, why do you need to pick sides?

[RomainSato10]

Good game, Butler ran out of gas. They are well coached and shot a lot better than I thought which gave them the lead at half. Dee Davis was sensational on defense in the 2nd half. Butler had no answer for Stainbrook. Marshall is a nice player and a mismatch on offense but its tough for a guy like that to guard a guy like Stainbrook. I was sitting 3 rows up, on the final play which was right in front of me, Butler was double teaming Martin and X kept playing bc Butler did. Had they called the dogs off so would have X, much like SJU did the game before, I have no problem with the dunk.

Butler was scrappy and impressed by Elijah Brown.

This narrative from a handful of Butler fans that X will be bad next year is laughable. Not counting any of the freshmen we add Abell and only lose Philmore/Stenger. Even if Semaj leaves they'll be pretty good, the younger guys will get better and still have Stainbrook down low. If Semaj stays in college I imagine X would be one of the favorites in this league.

[GrimeTime]

Apparently you guys don't care for one another much.

I don't think that's the case really... Xavier fans are still sore about the scoreboard incident a couple years back (I know... get over it) but aside from that I think there's a good respect for the programs. The biggest thing is that we have played them in the past, so that's the only team we really know all that well, and they are only 120 minutes away, compared to several states away for other schools.

It's harder to reminisce with someone you just met!