Butler Notebook: Looking at life without Rotnei Clarke
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Correspondent
Butler has a heck of a frontcourt. Without Rotnei Clarke, that unit becomes front and center.
Roosevelt Jones is the best passer on the team and the essence of versatility at small forward. Khyle Marshall remains, as he has been for some time, the most talented guy on the roster. Few power forwards in the country sniff out dunk opportunities as well as Marshall does. And center Andrew Smith, a senior like Clarke, leads Butler in true shooting percentage.
It all adds up to a devastating trio that few opponents can match.
Butler has to be heartened by how well the offense performed even without Clarke over the final 28 minutes at Dayton, and maintaining that success means milking the advantage that doesn’t get enough attention. Everyone knows Clarke can fling it. A lot of teams just can’t deal with the size and quality of Jones, Marshall and Smith.
Butler announced Sunday evening that Clarke is out indefinitely. Trainer Ryan Galloy said the star point guard has a significant neck sprain and is dealing with soreness. With even a return to practice yet to be discussed, the likelihood of Clarke missing Wednesday’s game against Richmond is almost a fait accompli.
Where hopes now lie is in a smooth recovery. Clarke is undergoing treatment. He went in for preliminary tests in Ohio and an MRI in Indianapolis. The need for a follow-up procedure shouldn’t be ruled out. As Peyton Manning demonstrated, neck injuries are tricky business.
The Bulldogs’ prospects look significantly worse without Clarke. They didn’t get nearly enough shooting from the guards last season, and that’s still the biggest unknown in projecting how Butler will handle Clarke’s absence.
Kellen Dunham likely gets a promotion to the starting lineup. It doesn’t help that Dunham’s freshman season has taken a rather mild tone. He’s at 32.9 percent on 3s. A major positive is that Dunham has seen starter-type minutes despite coming off the bench. He’s ready for more touches.
A magnet for criticism is senior backup Chase Stigall. Coach Brad Stevens viewed Stigall as only a fourth guard in the rotation, but his status is now enhanced without Clarke. That puts Butler in a much weaker position to succeed. At some point Stigall got the idea he should shoot a lot of 3s. Nearly all his shots in his Butler career were taken beyond the arc. Unfortunately, his 29.4 percent mark on 3-pointers is so bad that he harms the offense. Stigall pulls the trigger a lot. He probably should stop altogether. However, Stigall is a solid defender and does play hard. Moving him into Dunham’s sixth man role is an idea Stevens will probably adopt, no matter how many fans would rather see those minutes slotted to Devontae Morgan.
Giving the minutes of Clarke, a 44-percent 3-point shooter, to Dunham and Stigall is an invitation to opposing coaches to pack in their defenses to stifle the paint.
Nevertheless, a wise course of action would be to ditch most of Clarke’s eight 3-point attempts per game.
Stigall is a gunner, so he won’t like it, but the best strategy is to overpower opponents with big men who are as good around the basket as Butler’s.
Marshall is a bit undersized, but he’s so athletic that defenders struggle to contain him. He shot 55 percent last season and 57 percent this season largely by feasting on dunks. Marshall cuts so well off the ball to find openings. Smith might not be the most graceful post scorer in the world, but he’s very productive. Jones is a big, strong guy who works into the lane for floaters and can back down smaller opponents.
Sure, it’s nice grabbing three points on one possession, but Butler is qualified to relentlessly pound the ball inside.
Whether Stevens uses Clarke’s absence to temporarily change how Butler attacks defenses remains to be seen.
Either way, it’s not clear how the Bulldogs are going to score at the same rate. They will still defend. Stevens will squeeze as much from this team as it will give. But the Atlantic 10 is a cruel place to compete with an all-conference player sitting on the bench in a warm-up jacket, so it’s likely to be difficult until Clarke’s return. The starting lineup has a bunch of good players. The loss of its top scorer just puts more pressure on the likes of Jones, Marshall and Smith to create opportunities. That trio could be enough to keep Butler afloat.
