Tues 2/11 BE, 2 Games (Marq-SH, XU-Butler).

[BEX]

BU will come back strong. Lost their best player and Coach. Tough year. They'll be fine.

[XU85]

Let's see "exhibition game" "fans are not loud" "low attendance" why did we invite Butler in the first place? Why don't we just kick the program out right now. I mean shoot, all of these other teams would be great if they lost their best player and head coach before the season started. No one would have any problems with attendance or winning basketball games in a new conference. Let's stick to the x's and o's. Good win for Xavier, Butler was not ready to play especially since a player got kicked out during shoot-around. Their heads were not in the game and it was a piss-poor effort.

Easy for me to say, but relax if you can. I would like to think the lopsided game was due to X, but that was a very uncharacteristic performance by Butler last night. Their heads were clearly not in the game the second half. Sounds like coach and team have work to do, but hopefully they will benefit from whatever happened. Just glad it won't be at X's expense.

[butlerguy03]

Know when to fold 'em. Play Fromm & Marshall as seniors, but start toying with lineups for next year. Concentrate on getting Elijah Brown into an offensive flow instead of free-form. Really could have something nice with Brown and Chrab pick and roll, kickouts to Dunham. Just need experience.

Go Dawgs! I was at the Fieldhouse, it was more like 80-20 for Butler fans v Xavier fans. As any of us know, the visiting fans are always louder than normal...been there, done that many times as a Butler fan.

[XUFan09]

First year PG Rene Castro. Kid was a borderline top 150 player coming into Butler and has not seen the floor much. Coach Miller was asked during the presser the reason for his "absence" at the game, and no information was given.

Wait, was he kicked off the team or just suspended?

[BillikensWin]

BU will come back strong. Lost their best player and Coach. Tough year. They'll be fine.

I'll give them the player because Jones is a local kid and pretty good. I'm not buying the coach thing though.

[Irishdawg]

BU will come back strong. Lost their best player and Coach. Tough year. They'll be fine.

I'll give them the player because Jones is a local kid and pretty good. I'm not buying the coach thing though.

You're not buying that they lost their Coach? Was Stevens in a car accident this offseason?

Castro was kicked out of shoot around because when the team huddled up at the end, Castro was roaming around the outside, dribbling a basketball and not paying attention to what the coaches were saying (allegedly).

I also agree that Butler fans need to relax and maybe pump the brakes on the "Fire Coach Miller" train. It's his first year in a major conference with players who weren't recruited (or physically prepared) for the league at all, and the one guy who actually looks like he physically belongs in the Big East is on the bench. Really other than a few games, they've been in the majority of them, and if you look on the KenPom site, other than maybe the DePaul game at home, are there any wins and losses that happened that really surprise you based on where Butler's rated?

Unfortunately, the world needs ditch diggers too, and this year, Butler's got a shovel. We'll see if they can dig themselves out, but either way, they're in a better financial position as a school with the Fox money rolling in than they would be in the A-10 or HL, and that's even if nobody goes to the games.

[BillikensWin]

BU will come back strong. Lost their best player and Coach. Tough year. They'll be fine.

I'll give them the player because Jones is a local kid and pretty good. I'm not buying the coach thing though.

You're not buying that they lost their Coach? Was Stevens in a car accident this offseason?

Castro was kicked out of shoot around because when the team huddled up at the end, Castro was roaming around the outside, dribbling a basketball and not paying attention to what the coaches were saying (allegedly).

I also agree that Butler fans need to relax and maybe pump the brakes on the "Fire Coach Miller" train. It's his first year in a major conference with players who weren't recruited (or physically prepared) for the league at all, and the one guy who actually looks like he physically belongs in the Big East is on the bench. Really other than a few games, they've been in the majority of them, and if you look on the KenPom site, other than maybe the DePaul game at home, are there any wins and losses that happened that really surprise you based on where Butler's rated?

Unfortunately, the world needs ditch diggers too, and this year, Butler's got a shovel. We'll see if they can dig themselves out, but either way, they're in a better financial position as a school with the Fox money rolling in than they would be in the A-10 or HL, and that's even if nobody goes to the games.

I wasn't buying Stevens leaving as a viable excuse. (Yes, I realize he isn't there). Look when Jim Crews started at SLU.

[butlerguy03]

I wasn't buying Stevens leaving as a viable excuse. (Yes, I realize he isn't there). Look when Jim Crews started at SLU.

Stevens left while his value was at its highest. The more we got away from those two runs to the Final Four, the less value they were to him as a professional. He also knew that this year was going to be a struggle.

[HoosierPal]

I wasn't buying Stevens leaving as a viable excuse. (Yes, I realize he isn't there). Look when Jim Crews started at SLU.

Stevens left while his value was at its highest. The more we got away from those two runs to the Final Four, the less value they were to him as a professional. He also knew that this year was going to be a struggle.

You have to remember that this team was recruited by Coach Stevens. He has to take his part of the blame for this disaster. Without Jones, the record with Stevens as Coach rather than Miller would be similar, maybe not identical but similar.

[billyjack]

Butler will be fine. They were 9-2 ooc, with only 2 losses being 2 pts each vs Oklahoma State and LSU. I think in each if they had hit their free throws in the last 10 seconds (or if Roosevelt Jones was healthy), BU wouldve been 11-0. If you look back at old threads here, Butler along with VU and CU were considered locks. They lost heartbreakers in 3 of their first 4 games, and it hurt them. Ooc they beat Vanderbilt, Wazzou, Purdue, Princeton among others.

Looking forward:
Chrabascz (sp) is only a freshman and is excellent. He's the wide-body.
Dunham is just a sophomore. He's the sharpshooter.
They get one more year from Barlow (runs the offense) and Woods (one of the top rebounders in the Big East).
All roles are covered and returning.

Also next year:
Roosevelt Jones returns.
Kelan Martin and Wideman arrive. Both have the size and build of Chrabascz, so they won't get hammered down low.
I would think Castro and Brown will get more minutes too (I think they shouldve gotten more minutes this year).
So in 2015 Butler will retain experience, and gain size and strength, and add depth.
Sounds like a great plan.