Random thoughts....

Henry played today like we all thought he might do with greater frequency. He was the main reason we won today. And no TO's....

Traci Carter showed why many think he can be a top level PG down the road. In control, played great D on jones and hit his shots which could be huge moving forward. One play that stood out that shows his Bball IQ.....Traci drives and fires up a layup and his mo takes him OB. Henry grabs the rebound and loses his balance. He dumps the ball of to Traci who is still OB. He jumps in bounds, establishes both feet and then touches the ball. Shows that the game is slowing down for him.

JJ and HC carried us early. Hard to believe that JJ is now shooting 35% from 3. Really opens up his drive game.

Luke did not score, but blocked shots and grabbed 6 boards. And 1 foul so played his full allotment of minutes. And how about the play with 30 seconds left when HC flails a pass against the press. Luke goes and gets it and shovels to Henry.

Wojo had HC and Sandy play deny defense on Dunham the whole game. Didn't want him beating us.

All in all great game with a great, loud crowd.

One curious thing. No Traci for the last 3 minutes. Wojo went with Duane, JJ, HC, Henry and Luke. I think he liked HC defense better.

What has killed MU this year so far? TO's and giving up offensive rebounds.

Today, MU had 15 TO's and gave up 14 ORs. Not great. Shows you what great shooting can do to make up for other defficiencies.

Butler had a layup drill going with Jones first and then Martin.

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Originally Posted by Nukem2

Butler had a layup drill going with Jones first and then Martin.

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Did we win?

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Originally Posted by kneelb4zerg

Did we win?

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Yep, a very good win, but those layups and or drives were problematical.

Interesting comments from Henry after the game. They had a team meeting and he had a sit down with the coaches.

Seems like a mature kid......https://twitter.com/muwiresports/sta...21819836481536

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Originally Posted by Nukem2

Yep, a very good win, but those layups and or drives were problematical.

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Complaining about the defense today is ... A stretch.

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Originally Posted by kneelb4zerg

Complaining about the defense today is ... A stretch.

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Well the D was not exactly sterling throughout either. Big thing was getting into Roosevelt Jones' legs and Haanif fronting Dunham. As Wojo said in the post-game with Homer, he thought Jones got tired. But, a very nice win and our guys competed for 40 minutes with a lot of offense from Henry and Traci.

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Originally Posted by Markedman

Interesting comments from Henry after the game. They had a team meeting and he had a sit down with the coaches.

Seems like a mature kid......https://twitter.com/muwiresports/sta...21819836481536

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It sounds as if the 2nd half vs. Stetson was a wake up call for HE. Hope it is for rest of team as well and it is something they can sustain. Can we get to 9-9 on the conf season? Good goal to shoot for.

Butler is 1 of the best offensive teams in the country according to pomeroy. They are tough to guard.

Martin is a stud.

Man tough crowd. I thought we played some very solid defense today - like legit defense.

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Originally Posted by WindyCityGoldenEagle

Man tough crowd. I thought we played some very solid defense today - like legit defense.

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Yes, it was not terrible. The only thing is that Butler easily got in the lane a lot for layups or uncontested short shots. That's all I was pointing out earlier here. A good win in any event.

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Originally Posted by kneelb4zerg

Complaining about the defense today is ... A stretch.

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Agree.

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Originally Posted by Nukem2

Yes, it was not terrible. The only thing is that Butler easily got in the lane a lot for layups or uncontested short shots. That's all I was pointing out earlier here. A good win in any event.

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From my view in the upper deck the reason for that was we were tightly face guarding Dunham off the ball and switching off ball screens when Dunham was involved. Prevented him from getting any good looks from deep but did concede the lane a bit.

Dunham really had only one wide open 3 in the halfcourt and it was a real good possesion by Butler. He also took a 3 during a 3 on 1 in transition and missed, and missed 2 other tightly contested shots. Most of the damage he did was from inside the arc.

Jones got open looks because he is a great 5th year senior. A lot of Dunham'so poem short shots came off of clear shoves he used to get open that weren't called

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Originally Posted by Nukem2

Butler had a layup drill going with Jones first and then Martin.

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They did, but what happened? We adjusted to it. First, Henry adjusted to Jones. Best defensive play Henry has ever made (apologies to the block on Dunn, 6'11" blocking 6'3" just isn't that impressive) was when he used his length to take wider steps when Jones ran the curl at him. Henry's length pushed Jones wide and took away the path to the basket. It looked for the first time like he actually understood how to use his body on defense to his advantage. Carter also addressed that by harassing Jones all the way down, slowing him enough that Sandy had time to step in for the charge. Just a couple plays, but it was nice seeing actual defensive adjustments to address how the team was attacking us. Whether it was coaching or the players, it worked.

Jones had 15 in the first half, zero in the second. At that point, they went to Martin. Scored 12 points in 10 minutes to start the half. Then didn't score again until under 2:00. Yeah, he hit that late prayer three, but in the final 10:00, Martin was pretty well contained.

The power of 1 big game......Traci is now shooting over 35% from 3... http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/...ason_stats.pdf

Also....I love Brian Anderson as a play by play guy. Milwaukee is lucky to have him. Bardo is pretty good too.

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Originally Posted by Markedman

The power of 1 big game......Traci is now shooting over 35% from 3... http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/...ason_stats.pdf

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Amazed he has taken more 3's than HC and JJ.

HC had a couple of open 3's and chose to drive to the basket. Led to a costly TO when he stepped on the line late in the game. Hope he gets more comfortable taking that shot.

JJ has taken them less often and they are going in at a much higher rate.

The rebuild of his shot has really paid dividends.

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Originally Posted by Markedman

JJ has taken them less often and they are going in at a much higher rate.

The rebuild of his shot has really paid dividends.

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JJ had a great first half, less so in the second half. I think he had all 6 of his assists in the 1st half. He's really turned into an exceptional passer especially feeding the post. A little too much mustard on at least one in the 2nd half.

He's great on those drives that start on the left wing and curls to the right side of the basket getting past one or two guys which is the hard part - he's got to close the deal more often although he has improved in that area.

He's at his best when he's attacking the rim, no doubt but I think as soon as jj can effectively add the mid range pull up to his arsenal (he's trying it from time to time) he can become a very effective offensive player. It's open regularly for him - I'd like to see him look for it more often.

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Originally Posted by Nukem2

Butler had a layup drill going with Jones first and then Martin.

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You do realize, they are pretty good players right? They do that most every game they play? MU adjusted pretty damn well to Jones in the 2nd half. Martin stepped up. Their guards are their team. Just like MU has had many times in the past.

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Originally Posted by MUMac

You do realize, they are pretty good players right? They do that most every game they play? MU adjusted pretty damn well to Jones in the 2nd half. Martin stepped up. Their guards are their team. Just like MU has had many times in the past.

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Of course. Does not change the reality. It was a layup drill. And, 5 of them were "and 1" in the first half. Just stating the facts.

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Originally Posted by WindyCityGoldenEagle

He's at his best when he's attacking the rim, no doubt but I think as soon as jj can effectively add the mid range pull up to his arsenal (he's trying it from time to time) he can become a very effective offensive player. It's open regularly for him - I'd like to see him look for it more often.

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I agree on the mid-range jump shot. He tried tried that one in the 2nd half and from our seats looked like it was going in but hit the back of the rim I think. He has hit a few this year, but he is pretty good at creating space where he could attempt a lot more.

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Originally Posted by Nukem2

Of course. Does not change the reality. It was a layup drill. And, 5 of them were "and 1" in the first half. Just stating the facts.

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Yet, it took a fluke 3/4 court shot to tie the game at the half. Your complaints ring hallow.

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Originally Posted by MUMac

Yet, it took a fluke 3/4 court shot to tie the game at the half. Your complaints ring hallow.

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Who is complaining? Already acknowledged it was a very nice win. Just relating what we saw at the BC today. The good part is that Butler was only getting 2 points on Martin's drives in the second half. The real key to this win was offense....Henry...Traci.

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Originally Posted by Nukem2

Who is complaining? Already acknowledged it was a very nice win. Just relating what we saw at the BC today. The good part is that Butler was only getting 2 points on Martin's drives in the second half. The real key to this win was offense....Henry...Traci.

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Well, pretty much every other poster took your comments as a complaint, so .... Whatever, have at the negative, I will hang onto the positives. Their players played to their strengths, yet MU still won! :cool:

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Originally Posted by MUMac

Well, pretty much every other poster took your comments as a complaint, so .... Whatever, have at the negative, I will hang onto the positives. Their players played to their strengths, yet MU still won! :cool:

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Yep, we did. Not complaining or being contradictory. Just commenting on one aspect of the game. MU was 10-17 fro treyland along with a great game from Henry. Butler hung in there until the end because they kept getting open lanes to the hoop. Just what is was and what those of us in our section were noting the whole game.