Outcoached

[catholicman]

Kudos to Butler's coaching staff. Great game plan by them.
Regarding our coaching: Butler has trouble with the press; it worked but we used it too late. Lack of adjustments on defense and offense. Deer in headlights again. Need to be vocal with refs. Needed to tell team to play more physically against Butler's penetration.

 

[mjs428]

I'll be called negative but Willard has been out coached by every good team I the BE except the Prov game

 

[catholicman]

Did we scout Butler at all??????

 

[NYC Pirate]

I disagree on the coaching. The players did not execute. The defense was atrocious
in the frontcourt plus Butler made some unbelievable makes with little time on the shot clock.

I do feel that Willard has to get Singh in on some offensive sets in the 2nd half. You have to
at least keep them honest with a guy with good range. Veer has to make some though. That
could help Carrington also as far as spacing is concerned.

 

[Jerry1992]

Tough one. Nice effort by players. Butler was better prepared and out executed us.

 

[Marc1996]

Concur Jerry that Butler out executed us.

Think it is a bit of a stretch to say that Butler out-coached SHU.

 

[mjs428]

Whitehead bailed us out in the first half. Our help defense was atrocious. We were not prepared

 

[batts]

Here we go again with the Willard bashing. Poor it on guys because I know it makes you feel better.

 

[pirated]

Typical Hall...as soon as we're about to step into the light we shit a brick. Dogs outplayed us and willard P couldn't make adjustments. Poor job by players and team.

 

[catholicman]

Here we go again with the Willard bashing. Poor it on guys because I know it makes you feel better.

Just call it as I see it. It isn't gratuitous criticism. When coach does a great job, I note it. When he doesn't, I note it.

 

[mjs428]

IW was sensational. Did he make a fg in the 2nd half? No, the Butler coaching staff made in game adjustments and shut him down in the 2nd half

 

[Jerry1992]

Team was on a nice run. This game is not a season killer. Tough loss but we can rebound from this one. Still think we dance.

 

[SHUSource]

IW was sensational. Did he make a fg in the 2nd half? No, the Butler coaching staff made in game adjustments and shut him down in the 2nd half

I was following on game tracker, and this was interesting: Whitehead did not have a field goal in the second half, but he had nine assists after recording only one in the first half. Was he looking to distribute more in the second half, or was that just how it worked out? That's a lot of assists in 20 or less minutes.

 

[BostonBlackie]

When KW works hard on the sideline, we play hard on the floor. When he doesn't, we don't. He said on the post-game show that we didn't play with energy. I so wish he could see how much he has to do with that. It's NOT a coincidence.

 

[hbkmyr]

I was following on game tracker, and this was interesting: Whitehead did not have a field goal in the second half, but he had nine assists after recording only one in the first half. Was he looking to distribute more in the second half, or was that just how it worked out? That's a lot of assists in 20 or less minutes.

IW came out in the second half forcing things a bit. Willard sat him around the 13 minute mark and he came back in looking to distribute. Had 3 beautiful passes for lay ups (2 to Delgado and 1 to Gordon). Important note: down three with the ball at around the 1:30 mark, he did not look to take a forced shot, but instead a nice pass to Ish who got fouled on layup. Much different mindset than earlier this season.

 

[catholicman]

IW came out in the second half forcing things a bit. Willard sat him around the 13 minute mark and he came back in looking to distribute. Had 3 beautiful passes for lay ups (2 to Delgado and 1 to Gordon). Important note: down three with the ball at around the 1:30 mark, he did not look to take a forced shot, but instead a nice pass to Ish who got fouled on layup. Much different mindset than earlier this season.

Good points.

 

[dcPirate]

Butler outplayed The Hall. Sonogo and Gordon are the best on ball defenders and they were beat to the hole numerous times.

That missed rebound by Sonogo on the FT that led to the tie up late was a dagger.

Wasn't to be tonight but I was encouraged by the numerous comebacks from down 7-8-9 to get it to 2. Just couldn't get over the hump and Butler hit some tough shots late.

I don't agree KW was out coached tonight but I would love to see more fire at times on the sideline and working of the refs more.

Beat GTown and STJ and get to 9-5 and The Hall still in business.

Was a tough loss for sure, but not a BAD loss. Butler is a solid team that has underperformed at times, but they have a talented top 4-5.

 

[VioletPirate]

It's no excuse but they looked like they were running on fumes. Hopefully they re-energize over the off week and come out firing against Georgetown.

 

[SHUHoopsFan]

I just don't see how a team that misses about 10 layups and loses by single digits is outcoached.

 

[hbkmyr]

We weren't out coached. We played poorly, especially on D. We were getting beat off the dribble, leaving guys open by not fighting through screens, etc. That's not characteristic of this team which is built on tough solid man D. Who knows why...tired, lack of concentration, effort.

 

[lr591902]

I was following on game tracker, and this was interesting: Whitehead did not have a field goal in the second half, but he had nine assists after recording only one in the first half. Was he looking to distribute more in the second half, or was that just how it worked out? That's a lot of assists in 20 or less minutes.

No the funny thing is that he should have 5 or 6 assists in the first half but we missed the lay ups.

 

[Piratz]

Whitehead reacted well to the elevated defensive focus on him in the second.

We didn't get after it defensively enough. One team needed the win and the other didn't. It showed. Bad job. Good rally.

Butler shot 56%.

 

[catholicman]

Whitehead reacted well to the elevated defensive focus on him in the second.

We didn't get after it defensively enough. One team needed the win and the other didn't. It showed. Bad job. Good rally.

Butler shot 56%.

We could have stopped some of the things Butler does, but did not seem prepared.

 

[donnie_baseball]

I'm going to disagree with you on this one, padre. Missed bunnies, missed FT's, and turnovers hurt. Butler does NOT miss an open look.

 

[Pirate143]

KW had as bad of a game as the team (except IW and Desi in the 2nd half). The lack of emotion was clear. Even his post game pres con with Gary Cihen was flat; seemed to concede the loss. Why didn't we press more, 1/2 court trap or do something to gets the kids to play with more energy. The team played poorly against GTown and now Butler. They need rest and could be hitting another wall. If so, blame falls directly on KW for not having enough Big East players on the roster. Me just have guys playing too many minutes and it starts to show at this point in the season.

 

[donnie_baseball]

KW had as bad of a game as the team (except IW and Desi in the 2nd half). The lack of emotion was clear. Even his post game pres con with Gary Cihen was flat; seemed to concede the loss. Why didn't we press more, 1/2 court trap or do something to gets the kids to play with more energy. The team played poorly against GTown and now Butler. They need rest and could be hitting another wall. If so, blame falls directly on KW for not having enough Big East players on the roster. Me just have guys playing too many minutes and it starts to show at this point in the season.

Funny how that wasn't a problem in winning the last 4 in a row. They shot poorly against GU, they played very well, otherwise. Give it a rest.

 

[Pirate143]

KW had as bad of a game as the team (except IW and Desi in the 2nd half). The lack of emotion was clear. Even his post game pres con with Gary Cihen was flat; seemed to concede the loss. Why didn't we press more, 1/2 court trap or do something to gets the kids to play with more energy. The team played poorly against GTown and now Butler. They need rest and could be hitting another wall. If so, blame falls directly on KW for not having enough Big East players on the roster. Me just have guys playing too many minutes and it starts to show at this point in the season.

Funny how that wasn't a problem in winning the last 4 in a row. They shot poorly against GU, they played very well, otherwise. Give it a rest.

why is another's opinion of greater value. I was at the game and have been at most since 1986. We do not have a pure jump shooter, no power forward and play with only 3 guards (none of which play point). The poor shooting is a result of tired legs. Need to get Anderson on the floor to see if we can get some offense for the 4 position. While Ish plays good D, his foul #s are up b/c he is also running out of gas. We were fortunate the schedule set up for a nice run. But it turns against us down the stretch with PC, X and Butler and the alleys tough DePaul road game. I am not sure if 3-3 gets us in. You may disagree, that is your prerogative, just telling me to be quite is just small.

 

[sportsfantatic44]

I counted 7 missed lay ups by us in the 1st half. Other than Whitehead and Desi in the 2nd half nobody else played well. Delgado got torched on D tonight. Willard went to Ish and Nzei but that didn't work either. Didn't think Willard was the deciding factor on why we lost.

 

[Burnsly]

Can't blame Willard for this one. He wasn't missing foul shots & dropping critical rebounds.

 

[hbkmyr]

We lost tonight because we played poorly. Pretty simple to me. It happens sometimes. And even playing poorly we were right there down 3 with 130 to go and the ball.

 

[Pirate143]

My point was simple; he had as bad of a game as the kids. No one has more blame than another. But KW also contributed to the L.

 

[halltheway]

Butler played their "A" game- They couldn't could play much better-, we played a C+ game. I think the next time we play them we will win.

 

[Seton75]

I'll be called negative but Willard has been out coached by every good team I the BE except the Prov game

That is foolish. Watch the second Creighton game, watch the gu and mq's games.

One thing I know, we got outplayed. We couldn't stop BU off the dribble and they answered every call with a big bucket.

As I have been saying, Butler is damned good. A couple of plays could have changed things. They made theirs. We came up short.

 

[SnakeTom]

We did not get outcoached. We just got outplayed today. The solution is very simple. just beat Georgetown next Wednesday.

Tom K

 

[radecicco]

Tough loss. Butler was ranked in the top 15 due to their excellent OOC record. At the start of the BE season their point guard was injured and Dunham went into a shooting slump. There were 3-4 games in a row when he did not hit a single 3. Now they have everyone healthy, Dunham is playing like he can, and they have been doing everything right the past 2-3 games. They made big shots all night late in the clock. They have talented seniors and 5th year seniors. They play an unorthodox offense with R Jones as the point forward. They hit their scoring average of 81 pts which is #1 in the BE.

SHU played a very good game. We had 20 assists on 28 baskets, only 5 turnovers in the 2nd half, none I believe in the last 10 minutes, shot around 48%. We hit our scoring average of around 75 pts per game. IW goes for 26&10 (should have had about 15 assists). Butler practically played a box and one on IW in the 2nd half and packed the paint daring someone else to make a 3. We couldn't do it. Even with all that going on in the second half, the coaching staff and IW adjusted and found a way to get into the paint as evidenced by IW's 9 assists, some of the spectacular variety. We simply couldn't get enough stops on D.

 

[BucBloc]

The middle of the league is so evenly matched its a lot to expect a win every night. 3 through 7 seems to change nightly. We are now 3-2 vs 3 thru 7, not so bad. Butler is a senior dominated team. Tough for a sophomore driven team, especially when they shoot 56%.
Credit where credit is due. Butler played well and deserved to win.

 

[Vegas pj]

Whitehead bailed us out in the first half. Our help defense was atrocious. We were not prepared

The defense by the 4 position, for most of the game, was non existent. Plus, their offense from 2' out was horrendous. To bad that position totally collapsed in this game. Can't blame what's his name for that one.

 

[Halldan1]

Willard coached a decent game. My only two gripes were he waited too long to pressure Butler on offense. When he did it resulted in our comeback.

But that could be explained by noting that a few of the SHU players were gassed toward the end of the game, especially Whitehead who when I asked him that question said his legs were dead late in the second half.

My other gripe was similar. After Ish was tied up down the stretch and we lost the ball to the alternating arrow I thought we should have pressured Butler. Playing straight up man was IMO a mistake as Butler was carving up that defense all night. Sure enough they scored and that just about closed the door on the game.

The fear I had in this game and noted it yesterday to the criticism of many was that the team was tired. The response was as I expected....they're young men and shouldn't be tired.

But so many don't understand the mental and physical grind of a very long season. Especially when you consider that these players have been on campus since last summer working out.

Combine that with your academics, the travel, the pressure building as the season progresses and you are going to come out now and then with less energy than you want.

Willard noted it in the post game and the players did as well. They need a blow and this bye week could not have come at a better time.

 

[its haLL baLL]

Butler consistently made the big shot. Whitehead kept us in it throughout the first half with his unconscious shooting, but once Butler took him out of the game and Whitehead cooled off, things didn't go our way.

At least they fought back and kept themselves in a position to win the game. This loss isn't devastating, we just need to take care of business in the games ahead. On to Georgetown.

 

[BabyBlue]

Dunham, Jones and Martin are really good! I was extremely impressed with Butler last night. They play and shoot like that, Butler can and will beat anyone.
I was hoping for 2 out 3 on this homestand and got it.