Andrew Smith likely to play as Butler looks to bounce back against Fordham
By COLLIN O’CONNOR
ISL Correspondent
Signs are pointing to Butler center Andrew Smith playing against Fordham on Saturday after he sat out Wednesday’s game against Charlotte with an abdominal injury.
Part of that may have to do with the Bulldogs’ poor performance this past week without him. He also has improved much faster than coaches initially expected, definitely a good sign for this Butler team looking to come back from that disappointing loss.
Butler should win with or without Smith. Fordham is on a five-game losing streak, the Rams are just 2-8 in conference play thus far, putting them 14th in the conference at this moment.
However, crazier things in college basketball have happened this year and anything can happen when a team goes on the road in conference play without one of their stars. Butler’s normally potent offense was shut down on Wednesday after shooting just 34% from the 3-point line, including a 5-for-13 shooting performance beyond the arc from Rotnei Clarke.
That type of slow offense can’t happen again, but that may have been just due to a poor shooting night, which happens on occasion. The disappointing part of that game was the 1-on-1 defensive output. Charlotte was seemingly getting to the basket at will, and it showed with them shooting 54% from the field on the night.
Yes, Smith was missing, but Butler had another problem: a need for better perimeter defense so that the interior isn’t constantly under pressure on drives.
Today, the Bulldogs will be playing a team that is continuing to struggle on offense, but Charlotte was not a juggernaut on that end of the floor either. The Rams are 13th in the conference in points per game, averaging just around 65.3 points per 40 minutes.
The Rams low scoring, isn’t about their pace. They prefer to get the ball up and down the court, running at the third fastest pace in the Atlantic 10 on average. However, even with all of those possessions, they are last in the conference in points per possession at just 0.93, which goes a long way in showcasing why they continue to struggle putting points on the board.
Add that on to the Bulldogs’ usually tough defense and, if Butler can get back on track, the Bulldogs should be on their way to a victory. Fordham hasn’t showed an ability this season to go out and shoot over 50% like Charlotte did on Wednesday, so there will also be a bit more room for error.
However, if it happens again, where the perfect storm comes together of Butler not having a good day shooting and failing to get in front of their match-up on a consistent basis, the Rams are capable of stealing a win in front of their home crowd.
