Butler coach says Roosevelt Jones injury can’t tarnish ‘phenomenal’ trip
By CHRIS GOFF and COLLIN O’CONNOR
ISL Correspondents
INDIANAPOLIS – Despite losing standout small forward Roosevelt Jones for the entire season with damaged ligaments, Butler coach Brandon Miller isn’t about to look back on the team’s exhibition tour of Australia with any regret.
“Our team had a phenomenal trip,” Miller said during a Tuesday briefing. “The amount of things our team did, with the main focus on bonding and spending time together outside of basketball, and the amount of things that happened on our trip, were tremendous. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our players and for our staff.”
Jones injured his left wrist with 5:35 left in the first period of an Aug. 6 win over the Norths Bears Invitational Team in the first game of Butler’s four-game visit. An MRI performed after the team returned to Indianapolis revealed the torn ligaments.
Miller said Jones “cheered really hard” the remainder of the trip despite sitting out.
“Hopefully he continues that role in terms of where he is going to be this season,” Miller said. “Hopefully he can continue to be that leader for the team and I think he will be for us moving forward.”
Miller said he actually was surprised at how well Jones reacted to the injury.
“He took the attention off of himself and put it right back on the team,” said Miller, noting that Jones sent an uplifting text message to all 15 teammates. “He immediately went into leadership mode. I thought the growth that showed in him was huge.”
The injury is expected to sideline Jones for six to eight months, but Miller said no surgery date has been scheduled and no definitive timetable has been set.
Jones has been posting optimistic messages on his Twitter account since the injury and Miller said the 20-year-old junior is handling the situation well despite feeling at least a little bit sorry for himself.
“He took the news pretty hard,” Miller said. “He was really looking forward to the season. He’s worked hard to put himself into the situation to have a really good junior year.”
A sadness emanated through the Bulldogs’ bench as soon as Jones went down. He drove to his right from the free-throw line, went up for a layup and was knocked off balance. He could only break the fall by allowing all of his body weight to push down on his wrist. Butler went on to secure a 77-65 victory and finish 2-2 in Australia.
“When it first happened it affected our team,” Miller said. “Rose has a way about him – the way he carries himself and who he is. To see him in the situation he was in, it affected us. You could tell there was a different look in the guys. For a stretch in the game, we weren’t very good. Immediately you could hear him go down in pain. You knew there was something wrong at that time, but to what extent we did not know. I’ve seen Rose get knocked down before and normally he gets right back up. He’s as tough as they get.”
Butler is taking the position that a number of players will have to make up for Jones’ absence.
“No team has a player like Rose, including us,” Miller said. “Looking to replace him, he was probably going to play multiple positions so there are multiple guys that are going to have to step up and help out moving forward.”
Miller said some of the six freshmen will gain more chances to contribute.
“There’s a reason why each one of those guys was recruited to Butler,” he said. “We have a ways to go as a team. The freshmen have a ways to go as well.”
It’s why Miller felt the Australia trip had its productive moments.
“The older guys have a bond and a relationship, but for the six new freshmen to come in and spend the amount of time you spend together on a trip like that is irreplaceable,” Miller said. “You don’t get an experience like that anywhere else – even during the season.”
Miller added that the Bulldogs took steps forward while overseas.
“Any time you look at really good teams, they’re very close, so it was great for us to get a jumpstart in that area,” he said.
With Jones out of the lineup, Butler seemed most concerned about the offensive showings.
“On the offensive end, we didn’t look good and we’ll spend more time on that,” Miller said.
Also on Tuesday, Miller praised senior Erik Fromm, a candidate to start at center.
“Erik played well,” Miller said. “He had certain times during games where he would score two or three times in a row on the offensive end. He grew during the trip. He had some stretches he looked really good. He’s turned into one of the leaders on the team.”
