Butler Notebook: Bulldogs hope to flip the script in Round 2 with Saint Louis
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Correspondent
The Bulldogs face a big game Friday. Saint Louis beat them pretty easily in January, making them look bad in a way that few teams can.
Now Butler gets a second chance.
The truth is the Bulldogs don’t match up well with the Billikens. They don’t have as much team speed, and Saint Louis center Rob Loe has enough size to check Andrew Smith. Saint Louis also has someone who can guard Roosevelt Jones, and if Jones has to spend long periods on Dwayne Evans it can get him in foul trouble.
The Billikens’ long arms and ball-hawking pressure befuddled Butler’s offense in the first meeting. Additionally, Saint Louis controlled the defensive glass, as Butler finished with just six offensive rebounds from 29 missed shots. Outside of Rotnei Clarke, no Bulldog could get to the line, as the team earned only 13 free throws, about eight fewer than normal.
One approach coach Brad Stevens could try defensively is changing the matchups. He could put Jones on Kwamain Mitchell, stick Khyle Marshall on Evans and use Alex Barlow to check perimeter-oriented Cody Ellis, who comes off the bench but sees most of the minutes at power forward.
Another tactic, one that would more aid the offense, would be to go small. Quicker, faster players may help defeat aggressive pressure. In the blowout loss at Chaifetz Arena, Butler’s big men accounted for 11 of the 23 turnovers. Jones can work as a 4 while Kellen Dunham would play small forward in such a lineup. Stevens hasn’t varied much from his modus operandi of keeping traditional size on the court at all times, but this may be the only way for the Bulldogs to survive. Yes, it would detract from Butler’s offensive rebounding, which is a real strength. But the big men weren’t grabbing offensive boards, anyway; in Round 1, Smith, Marshall and Erik Fromm corralled absolutely zip in 51 minutes of playing time.
Friday’s game is at home, so perhaps Butler won’t have to come from behind. Playing uphill is taxing. The Bulldogs went an entire half three weeks ago in Missouri without doing anything well, and then found the gap too much to recover. Perhaps Clarke or Dunham can start with a hot hand.
The Bulldogs are a veteran team with tremendous resolve. You can bet Stevens will find a way to keep the Billikens from making half of their field goals again. He is a big-name coach who has earned the benefit of the doubt in terms of pushing the right buttons and preparing his charges to have the upper hand.
“It’s been a great experience going through this league, seeing all the different styles, and that continues,” Stevens said, before turning his attention to the Atlantic 10’s regular season race, which Butler would lead with a victory Friday. “Saint Louis, VCU, those guys have done a great job managing. Now it’s a matter of who wins late. If you can’t focus on the journey and just getting better, it’s tough to maintain. Almost every year in coaching it’s like that. A few we’ve pulled away early, but for the most part it always goes down to the final game or two.”
Interim coach Jim Crews, the former Army head man who has filled in all season for the late Rick Majerus, said the Billikens’ trip to Hinkle Fieldhouse is not to be treated differently.
“We try to keep things simple every day,” Crews said. “You play so many games. You have to be ready every day emotionally and physically. That’s tough. Our guys have not gotten bored. We just do what we do. We did not change things. It takes time to gel. We played good teams. I’ve been really proud of the kids.”
Saint Louis has won eight in a row. However the game unfolds, it’s hard to picture anything but a tough fight in what figures to be an excellent A-10 showcase.
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